Twitter removed a video that was promoted on President Trump’s account on Monday night showing what appeared to be doctors in Washington praising the benefits of using hydroxychloroquine to treat patients with COVID-19.
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The video, which was widely shared on social media, appeared to include a dozen doctors in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington. It was unclear when the video was filmed.
A Twitter representative told CNN that the action was taken “in line with” its coronavirus misinformation policy.
One of the doctors, who was identified in the reports as Dr. Stella Immanuel, claimed that he treated more than 350 coronavirus patients, some with diabetes and high blood pressure, and none died after receiving hydroxychloroquine, zinc and Zithromax. She claimed that she even administers the drug in prophylactic measures.
The New York Times noted recent studies that questioned the effectiveness of the treatment and called the video “the latest example of misinformation that has spread” about the virus.
Breitbart reported that a group called the United States Frontline Doctors held a press conference that was “organized and sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots.” The event included doctors and an appearance by Representative Ralph Norman, RS.C., according to the report.
The video makes spectacular claims about the treatment that essentially calls it everything but a cure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for COVID-19.
The Breitbart report claims that the video was later removed by social media. Twitter did not immediately respond to a Fox News inquiry, and a Facebook spokesperson told Breitbart that the video was removed because it shared false information “about cures and treatments for COVID-19.”
The antimalarial drug debate has been raging for weeks and critics of Trump have accused him of over-selling an unproven treatment. Trump supporters have accused social media companies of silencing what are considered marginal views on the disease.
In April YouTube was criticized for removing a viral video of two California doctors questioning the level of threat from the coronavirus.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported in June that a study showed that hydroxychloroquine was no better than placebo pills at preventing coronavirus disease. However, the drug did not appear to cause serious harm: Approximately 40% of the people given the drug had side effects, mainly mild stomach problems.
“We were disappointed. We would have liked this to work, ”said study leader Dr. David Boulware, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota. “But our goal was to answer the question and conduct a high-quality study,” because the evidence on the drug so far has been inconclusive, he said. The Lancet published a study that found coronavirus patients were more likely to develop severe cardiac arrhythmias if treated with the drug.
Dr. Harvey Risch, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, told Fox News last week that he believes hydroxychloroquine could save 75,000 to 100,000 lives if the drug is widely used to treat the coronavirus.
“There are many doctors who have received hostile comments from me saying that all the evidence is bad and, in fact, that is not true at all,” Risch told “Ingraham Angle,” adding that he believes the drug can be used. as “prophylactic” for front-line workers, as other countries like India have done.
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Risch regretted that a “propaganda war” is being waged against the use of drugs for political purposes, not based on “medical facts.”
Joshua Nelson of Fox News and Associated Press contributed to this report.
