ARS TECHNICA – In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mehmet Oz—aka Dr. Oz—repeatedly emailed top-level Trump administration officials, urging them to push the ineffective malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, to treat COVID-19 based on scant, sketchy data from a now-disgraced French researcher.
Emails from the notorious celebrity doctor were revealed for the first time Wednesday in a report from the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis.
The report, titled “A ‘Knife Fight’ with the FDA,” delved into how the Trump administration worked to undermine, pressure, and bully the Food and Drug Administration during the pandemic.
Specifically, it unearthed how the Trump White House pressured the FDA to bend safety standards so that COVID-19 vaccines could be released before election day.
It also revealed the tenacious efforts and subterfuge by top Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro and advisor Steven Hatfill to pressure the FDA into supporting the use of the debunked malaria drug.
“Oz, who has a long history of peddling unproven treatments and health scams, was quick to jump on the hydroxychloroquine train.”
The report’s title stems from a direct quote from Hatfill that the White House had a “knife fight scheduled with the FDA” over hydroxychloroquine.
Both efforts were ultimately unsuccessful—the FDA did not authorize vaccines before the election and nor did it re-authorize hydroxychloroquine after it was clear it was not effective. But the administration’s actions caused lasting damage to the FDA, the country’s pandemic response, and public trust, the report concludes …
But before Navarro and Hatfill spearheaded efforts and “work from the shadows” to champion a junk COVID-19 remedy, there was Dr. Oz, who was equally eager to promote the unproven treatment.
“Oz, a crudité aficionado who is now running as a Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania, ultimately scrapped the [HCQ] clinical trial idea and reportedly donated the pills to an unnamed hospital.”
Oz, who has a long history of peddling unproven treatments and health scams, was quick to jump on the hydroxychloroquine train. Days after the small, dubious French study—led by a now-disgraced microbiologist—suggested that hydroxychloroquine was 100 percent effective at treating COVID-19, Oz sent emails to Trump White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx and Trump’s son-in-law and White House senior advisor, Jared Kushner … READ MORE.
Oz campaign attacks Fetterman’s health in latest veggie tray dust-up
CBS – It’s not exactly a garden-variety campaign attack – but in the closely watched Pennsylvania Senate race, the campaigns are going head to head over eating vegetables.
It’s the latest in a series of fights between the two candidates in one of the most closely watched races of the 2022 midterms — and one that could decide the party control of the Senate come November.
The grocery store drama started last week after a video surfaced of Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz attempting to slam President Biden on rising food prices. He entered a grocery store and gathered up vegetables, saying his wife loved “crudité.”
Although the video was from April, it went viral fast and soon enough, Fetterman’s team, which has been working to paint Oz as out of touch, seized on the video, with a series of social media posts saying it’s not called “crudité” in Pennsylvania — it’s a “veggie tray.” Fetterman’s campaign said last week that within 24 hours, it had raised $500,000 off the “crudité” video.
“A Fox News poll taken in July (when Fetterman was recovering from a stroke) showed the former TV quack with a double-digit deficit of 11%.” – HEADLINE USA, AUG 24, 2022
But this week, Oz tried to turn the tables on the veggie wars and focus on Fetterman’s health. In a statement to Insider, Oz’s campaign senior communications adviser said if the Democrat had “ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke.”
Fetterman suffered a serious stroke just days before the May primary. It sidelined him from the campaign trail for about three months, and he only returned to in-person campaigning less than two weeks ago. He said it is lucky he survived … READ MORE.
