President Donald Trump indirectly owns a minute stake in a company that makes the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which he has been aggressively promoting as a treatment for the coronavirus, and was lobbied to use it by Fox News host Laura Ingraham and two doctors who frequently come on her show, reports The Washington Post.
Ingraham personally lobbied Trump to use hydroxychloroquine during an Oval Office visit last Friday. She also brought the doctors with her – Ramin Oskoui, a Washington D.C.-based cardiologist, and Stephen Smith, a New Jersey-based infectious disease specialist. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn also attended the meeting.
Smith told the Post he walked Trump through a spreadsheet and other documents on how the drug works.
"I'm a guy who looks at data," Smith said. "I came as a scientist and physician. I trained under Dr. Fauci and respect him a lot."
He described Hahn as "supportive."
Critics of the drug note it has not been widely tested for its effectiveness on COVID-19 patients or recommended as a treatment by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The New York Times on Monday reported Trump has a stake in Sanofi, the French drug maker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine. But Trump's stake in the company is indirect and small – he owns shares through a fund that includes a diverse array of stocks.