hydroxychloroquine. hydroxychloroquine. hydroxychloroquine. a lot of good things are happening with it, a lot of good tests. >> tucker: over at "the washington post," which so often seem to work in tandemd with cnn, a person called philip bump produced a 3,000 word long timeline looking at the rise and fall of trump's obsession with hydroxychloroquine. it was yet another exercise in deep irony. bump himself obsessively chronicled every time the president so much as retweeted a mention of the drug. bump logged the precise number of times that hydroxychloroquine was mentioned on this channel and on fox business. paging dr. freud. it's possible that mr. bump may be exhibiting symptoms of obsession. earlier this week, bump wrote yet another article on the same topic, and i did that the same topic, and ended that piece with the suggestion of a sinister conspiracy at work. "why promote that drug and why so energetically?" and he let the question hang in the air. philip bump doesn't believe in human optimism, he always assumes a s

. >> hydroxychloroquine. >> i've been telling you for a week about hydroxychloroquine. >> hydroxychloroquine. >> hyd rochltchloroquine. >> it's cheap. it's considered safe. >> in so in a lot of ways hydroxychloroquine is the ideal medicine. >> hydroxychloroquine is a very powerful drug. >> would you try hydroxychloroquine? >> after all i've read, i would. >> i got the very early approval from the fda. >> we never heard of hydroxychloroquine before we mentioned it. >> hydroxychloroquine, i don't know, it's looking like it's having some good results. >> drum roll, please. hydroxychloroquine. >> what do you have to lose? take it. >> there's signs that it works on this. very strong signs. >> there's mounting evidence tonight that hydroxychloroquine may work. >> hydroxychloroquine is now looking more and more like an important tool in treating this virus. >> our national stockpile is now equipped with nearly 30 million hydroxychloroquine pills. >> hydroxychloroquine is credited with saving lives. >> a friend of mine tells me he got better because of the use of that drug. >> hydroxychloroquine see

. >> hydroxychloroquine. based on what i see, it could be a game changer. >> hydroxychloroquine. >> it showed very encouraging early results. really encouraging. >> early signs for me, reading medical research, i was impressed. >> it's very effective. it's a strong drug. >> i feel good about it. it's all it is, just a feeling. >> it showed surprising promise for treatment of coronavirus. >> hydroxychloroquine. >> i've been telling you for a week about hydroxychloroquine. >> hydroxychloroquine. >> hyd rochltchloroquine. >> it's cheap. it's considered safe. >> in so in a lot of ways hydroxychloroquine is the ideal medicine. >> hydroxychloroquine is a very powerful drug. >> would you try hydroxychloroquine? >> after all i've read, i would. >> i got the very early approval from the fda. >> we never heard of hydroxychloroquine before we mentioned it. >> hydroxychloroquine, i don't know, it's looking like it's having some good results. >> drum roll, please. hydroxychloroquine. >> what do you have to lose? take it.

hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and others. why is the affect is effectiveness of the drug beingg maligned or what have you? what's your theory? >> aside from may be political reasons which i could never understand, it's other issues. one, it's not a drug we are familiar with. infectious disease doctors are not familiar with hydroxychloroquine which is not a traditional antibiotic. it affects the host's -- i know it's effective from our data. that's the first time we've even attempted to affect the host may be other than interferon to actually affect host cell metabolism with a small molecule to help fight the infection. it's unheard of. we are not familiar with it. it's a very unusual drug. it takes seven months for it to reach a steady state. the 7400 milligrams does being used by a lot of american physicians is absurd. it's absurd lead low, given to everyone of the same mass and weight. i was using the same 24-milligram dose for a 90-year-old woman as i was for 45-year-old man weighing over 350 pounds. one or both for gettin

hydroxychloroquine has been heavily politicized.resident trump is the cheerleader for it. >> we're having some very good things happening with it. it will be wonderful. it will be so beautiful. it will be a gift from heaven if it works. >> reporter: doctors say it needs to be studied first. on april 12st, governor cuomo gave a date to expect preliminary results sponsored by the state. >> i think we'll get actual reports on april 20th. >> preliminary results on april 20th. >> april 20th came and no preliminary results. the next day, cuomo was asked about it again after he visited the white house. >> do you have any indication of what the state results have been? you said there were being sent to washington yesterday. >> i have no -- i do not know. i do not know. >> reporter: the researchers said he'll be releasing final results early as end of next week in hopes of helping covid patients as soon as possible. >> we hope by next week, we'll have reached the final phase of this study. this study is really important and it's important th

dangerous drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, a drug promoted by the administration in a panacea in. and written by deborah kast and lisa banks who also represented christine blasey ford in allegation against now supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. an unproven drugs can be disastrous and result in countless more deaths, science and service of the health and safety of the american people must always trump politics. brighten a statement claiming objections to the hydroxychloroquine conflicted with his boss, president trump here it's big over the last seven days might administration employed 28 doses of hydroxychloroquine from our national stockpile. we have millions of doses that we brought command many people using it all over the country. >> doctors treat coronavirus patients continue to debate if hydroxychloroquine is part of an experimental cocktail works. but politico talked to hhs official claiming to see writes emails on the governments procurement of tens of millions of pills. if he proposed he did not make it clear from his email but quite the opposite said the official who

we are talking about hydroxychloroquine.t's been established that chloroquine is much more toxic, much more toxicity. what i don't understand is lupus patients, rheumatoid arthritis patients, they are on this as stephen smith has said many times for decades. decades! and yet they can get the prescription in a doctor's office so they don't have to go to a hospital, which we are not supposed to go to the hospital now. if you have covid you have to stay out of the hospital. i am just a layperson. i think none of this to me makes any sense. >> it really doesn't. the fda's package insert never mentions the ekg or baselines. all the patients close to a dozen i've treated are established patients with ekg so i know the heart history from. i have no problems except for one patient who had persistent nausea, a small price to pay for a boarding avoiding the icu.>> laura: dr. e or two cases -- >> none. >> laura: you have a better memory. that's why you go to med school. this is president trump today around noon when he answered a few q

we need to start the hydroxychloroquine absolutely on the mark within 48 hours, it's been shocking to me that there has been a couple of pieces where i've had to fight with primary care physicians that have been involved with these patients, they are sitting at home with fevers bouncing around, taking tylenol, and things are going on then on the and they are starting to get very short of breath and i'm the one arguing to try the hydroxychloroquine! >> laura: are you not supposed to do that now? i don't understand this. are you prohibited from doing that now? are these just guidelines? >> the guidelines are changing all the time. that's the problem. >> laura: i thought we were supposed to keep people out of the hospital! we are going to have you on next week because i know you have other interesting ideas and things that you've done the key people out of the hospital who come in and test covid positive but we wanted to get your perspective of this and i thank you so much. it's great to see you. and the fda's new warning we just talked about about hydroxychloroquine has the media comple

wait for it, hydroxychloroquine. anti-trump sentiment is driving the new cycle whether against hydroxychloroquine or why someone gets removed from office. what are your thoughts on just that little illustration? >> you know, you see this all the time. you are seeing these things get politicized. people ignore things. you know, for example in the journal of cardiology back in september, there was an article about elongation. that is what people are criticizing hydroxychloroquine. however, when it is 68,000 americans teenager that were tested because they were using marijuana and they ended up having increased cutie intervals, you didn't see an article, you didn't see it in te newspaper that those things are happening there. i think we just need to look at the signs come up with those studies get done. work with doctors because when you treat people early, you get better results. it's been when i can't wait until people are incubated. it is unlikely to work at that point. gentlemen, thank you so much. both of you have

they say they use hydroxychloroquine, and he said the results are so incredible with hydroxychloroquinemaybe it's helping. if it helps, it's great. if it doesn't help, don't do it. >> laura: again, we've said, countries around the world are using this in hospitals, and doctor's offices, prophylaxis. either they are all stupid or it does something for some people. but the press doesn't want any good news. >> hydroxychloroquine has an important role to play in mild to moderate covid illness. you shouldn't use it in late stage cases or patient to simply test positive but are asymptomatic. this is an important part of our toolkit but you use it in selected patients. why they are doing this really boggles the legitimate medical imagination. >> laura: practicing physicians bombarded me today after seeing that fda warning. it was -- i don't know. i don't have any words on a friday night to describe it. doctor, thank you so much. esteemed cardiologist in washington, d.c. coming up, georgia is open for business today, but what are things like on the ground for business owners? we are going to sp

plus my medicine cabinet brings us the latest promising news on, you bet, hydroxychloroquine. and we will hear from a democratic lawmaker who credits that very drug and the president was saving her life. she will be here in just a few minutes. millions are wondering, and we have some creative solutions. this is america and shut down, day 21. we are all acutely aware of the darkness this has brought. the more than 10,000 americans who have now lost their lives in countless forms have had their lives upended. business is frozen, parents frustrated, children are confused and workers unemployed. there are some and we needed these hopeful signs emerging. now, while new york is still suffering greatly with its covert deaths, the daily numbers are actually stabilizing and there are other positive signs. >> the total number of hospitalizations are down. the icu admissions are down. end of the daily integrations are down. those are all good signs. and again, it would suggest a possible flattening of the cur curve. >> laura: earlier than some people thought perhaps. we will be watching.

hydroxychloroquine has been heavily politicized.heerleader for you. >> we're having some very good things happening with it. it will be wonderful and so beautiful. it will be a gift from heaven if it works. >> but doctors say it needs to be studied first. on april 12th, new york governor andrew cuomo gave a date to expect preliminary results from the albany study being sponsored by the state. >> i think we're going to get actual reports on april 20th. >> we'll get preliminary results on april 20th. >> but april 20th came and no preliminary results. the next day cuomo was asked about it again after he visited the white house. >> do you have any indication what the state results have been? you said they were being sent to washington yesterday. >> i have no -- i do not know. i do not know. >> the researchers say he'll be releasing final results as early as the end of next week in the hopes of helping covid patients as soon as possible. >> we're hoping that by next week, we will have reached the final phase of this study. this study is

but i think that it's all of the way hydroxychloroquine has been politicized. this woman, it shows you the gutter nature of politics in america today where every statement that could be reasonably construed as supportive of the president, as being nice or gracious to the president is immediately criticized by your hard core bare knuckled party boss who wants to win at all cost it is a little symptom of where america's politics are today. i lament it. it's awful. why don't we have a fair fight? you know, vice president pence told me in an exclusive interview that airs later this morning that he believes by memorial day weekend we will be largely back to normal or heading in that direction. steve: great. >> i don't think there is any way, shape or form that the political convention, if they are moved to august are interrupted. i think we will have august conventions for both parties and

we'll get to that study on hydroxychloroquine in a minute. let's start with the news out of california that deaths from covid-19 in the u.s. were three weeks earlier than previously thought. >> yes, this is very interesting. this is something that i and other reporters brought up at the time. how do we know that people aren't dying of coronavirus? this was sort of in -- during pretty much the month of february because it was a bad flu season. i remember asking a federal official how do we know that all of these deaths from flu aren't actually some of them aren't coronavirus? i didn't get a very satisfactory answer. but to get to what the new york times reported, they found that in santa clara county, northern california, there were autopsies of two people who died in february, before the first known u.s. death who died actually of coronavirus. who had coronavirus when they looked at the autopsy. and the death -- the first known death in the u.s. wasn't until later. this is really significant. this shows the people were dying, or suggests that

>> there's a lot of stuff flowing about about the hydroxychloroquine -- >> very good. >> and the media seems to be almost rooting for it not to work. >> things are happening. i haven't seen bad. i have not seen bad. one thing that we do see is that people are not going to die from it. so, if somebody's in trouble, you take it, i think. i would. >> and it's being used worldwide. >> this study done by reputable center, double-eye blind randomized trial showed an improvement in outcomes in patients that took the hydroxychloroquine. it's not a panacea, but you have to respect data. >> in my open, i put in a sound of the woman who was a democrat from detroit, a michigan representative who said, you know, thank god for donald trump even mentioning this. once i got on the hydroxychloroquine -- the hydroxy, i was fine. >> well, your open was spot on. >> is there something else -- >> it's politicized. no. come on. it's like never trumpers. it's like, oh, if he's for it, we've got to be against it. >> i've seen things that i sort of like. so, what do i know? i'm not a doctor. i'm not a doctor. b

plus my medicine cabinet brings us the latest news on, you bet, hydroxychloroquine. and we'll hear from a democratic lawmaker who credits that very drug and the president with saving her life. she'll be here in just a few minutes. and easter sunday around the corner, millions wondering, how am i supposed to worship? raymond arroyo joins us letter with some creative solutions. this is america in shutdown, day 21. tonight, as christians begin holy week and the jews begin to celebrate passover, we are acutely aware of the devastation coronavirus has wrought, more than 10,000 americans would've lost their lives and countless more have had their lives appended. businesses frozen, parents frustrated, children are just confused, and workers unemployed. there are some and we needed these hopeful signs emerge in. new york has suffered greatly with its more than 4,70 4,700 cd deaths, the daily numbers are stabilizing and there are other positive signs. >> total number of hospitalizations are down. the icu admissions are down. and the daily intubation ands are down. those are a

the majority of these patients are taking hydroxychloroquine. he's authored 400 peer-reviewed papers, past chairman of the lupus foundation of america and i could keep going on and on with these credentials. he points out this is in his words a very safe drug that has been given to tens of millions of individuals in the world for 65 years and 42 years of practice, no patient of mine has ever been hospitalized for any complication with this medicine, and he adds the risk of taking 400 milligrams a day following a single 600 milligrams loading dose of 30 to 60 days, he says the risk is nil. unless you have a rational and upset stomach. i'm watching people on television, and i am getting attacked and the president's getting attacked that this is dangerous. i would say this guy knows more than everyone that commenting about it and you have been talking to him and others. tell us what you learned. >> i'm very impressed by him. i did not know much about this drug until covid-19 hit this country. i suspect that's true for almost everybody commenting on

our national stockpile is now equipped with nearly 30 million hydroxychloroquine pills. we're distributing them by the millions. over the last seven days, my administration has deployed roughly 28 million doses of hydroxychloroquine from our national stockpile. >> meanwhile, after weeks in lockdown and a day after we learned we have 26 million out of work and filing for unemployment, georgia is one of a handful of states that today started allowing some businesses to reopen -- barbershops, nail salons, gyms, tattoo parlors opened their doors even as georgia reported now nearly 900 deaths from coronavirus. iowa, which is also seeing increases in its virus caseload, is planning to begin reopening its economy on monday. and finally there's this. mike pence with geraldo rivera. >> do you think i'll be on my boat and fishing in early june, mr. vice president? >> i think honestly if you look at the trends today, that i think by memorial day weekend, we will largely have this coronavirus epidemic behind us. >> let's remember that quote and tuck it away. and here for our leadoff

hydroxychloroquine. they added azithromycin as well. that's why i was kind of surprised to see the at fda cautioning using hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 outside of a hospital setting or clinical trial. says there's a risk of developing heart arrhythmia. what about the thousands of doctors across the globe? australia bought millions of doses and is giving it out free to people. india, turkey, talk about that the last few nights. they are prescribing it in outpatient care to treat people with covid, early signs of covid, in some cases prophylaxis with autoimmune issues, of course, with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. our next guest is one of the most qualified autoimmune mds in the country and she says doctors need to be empowered with the best available tools in order to beat back this pandemic. joining me now is dr. christine detrick. great to see you tonight. what do you make of the fda's dismissiveness? this warning today that came out about hydroxychloroquine which should never be prescribed except by a doctor and people alway

. >> for 16 years she had a prescription for hydroxychloroquine. but last week, mara's doctor at kaiser permanente emailed her we are not able to refill your hydroxychloroquine refill at this time. it's now reserved for those who are the most ill from covid-19. >> if it is the miracle cure, i'd be okay with that. but the fact that that's not even the case yet, and they don't even know if that's an option, and they're already limiting medications, it's very frustrating. >> the pharmacist gave mara a final two-week supply. she has cut the pills in half to make them last long earp. in a statement to the i-team, kaiser's doctor writes we are sorry the concern this may cause. we have asked our physicians to work with our patients to convert when appropriate from hydroxychloroquine to very good alternative other medications. but mara tells me other medications have serious side effects, and she is worried about her symptoms returning. >> it's just going to severely impact me being able to go to work. >> and your ability to function? >> definitely, yeah.

a majority of these patients taking hydroxychloroquine. he has authored 400 peer-reviewed papers, written in the lupus textbook, past chairman of the lupus foundation of america and i can keep going on in and with these credentials. he points out, his words, and very safe drug that's been given to tens of millions of a vendor weakens and individuals throughout the world for six to five years, no patients of mine have ever been hospitalized for any publicatios to this medicine and taking 4 milligrams of letter hc queue following 6 milligrams letter hc queue says the risk is nil,unless you. i'm watching people on television and i'm getting attacked and the president's getting attacked that this is dangerous. >> well, i would say this guy knows more than everybody commenting about it and you've been talking to him and others. tell us what you've learned. >> i'm very impressed by him and he's one of the premier rheumatologists in the country. i did not know much about this drug until covid-19 hit this country. i suspect that almost everyone co

hydroxychloroquine, is looking like it's having some good results.ope that would be a phenomenal thing but we have it right now and approximately now increased to 1,50 1,500 people. >> a tremendous supply of it, we've ordered it in the case that it works and they could have some pretty big impacts. we will see what happens. >> sean: the president earlier today talking about hydroxychloroquine, the mob and the media, the ones who have beaten me for discussing any possible treatment are now backtracking very quickly because after initially mocking the president and anyone who talked about it for suggesting there's some evidence here, antimalarial drug, journalists are not acknowledging it might be able to treat coronavirus. here now, the host of what is a must watch tv, dr. oz is with us. there was a 2005 study, sars was very similar, 2005, that showed promising results. two questions and i'm just going to hand this off to you. one is are scared tonight my talk about what the real chances of death are for example and talk about what we know about hydro

"the risk of taking 400 milligrams of hydroxychloroquine a day following a single 600 milligrams hydroxychloroquine loading dose is not the normal course of treatment that is being used around the world for covid-19. he said the risk is zero unless one has an allergic rash or upset stomach from it. maybe 5%. okay, he's been prescribing it now in the head of all of these rheumatoid arthritis and lupus organizations, 400 peer-reviewed studies, not a single complication, death, or hospitalization. that would seem pretty clear that the claims that it's dangerous or false. >> so i'm okay -- that is factual for me based on people who have a lot more experience in this area than me or anyone could ever articulate. but i've got to say something. i didn't call him to talk about this. he volunteered this to me and actually interrupted me when i was asking a different question and asked as a favor to please circulate the reality that the drug is not dangerous. he said we can argue and debate about whether it's an effective but that's not a reason not to take the medication. what i was calling him about becaus

trump: that is hydroxychloroquine. again, you have to go through yourur medical people to get the approval, but i have seen things that i sort of like. so what do i know? not a doctor. i'm not a doctor, but i have common sense sense. amy: we will get response from dr. abdul el-sayed, former head of dittrich department of health. we will also look at the ongoing water shutoffs in detroit. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the united states has the highest number of recorded covid-19 deaths, at over 22,000, after it surpassed italy's death toll on saturday. all 50 states now have a major disaster declaration in place. over half a million cases have been identified nationwide, but testing remains limited, making the true number of cases unknown. worldwide, there are over 1.8 million confirmed cases and over 115,000 deaths due to the coronavirus. over easter weekend in the united states, many churches and families held virtual celebrat

>> huge study going on, hydroxychloroquine. i need to ask you about this brand-new study, i know you're not an epidemiologist, but you heard me talk about it, it is not controlled, but it is clear from this renowned epidemiologist and his team in marseille that this hydroxy combo seems to be working. >> randomized trial showed that there was an improvement in outcomes in patients that took the hydroxychloroquine. it is not a panacea, but you have to respect data. >> all right, thank you, dr. oz, appreciate the medical update tonight. >> i've seen things i sort of like. so what do i no he? i i'm not a doctor. i'm not a doctor. i have common sense. >> so you are a doctor, does that kind of pushing here from folks who are not experts, does that help or hurt the treatment and the response to this? >> it is very damaging. it puts false hopes in to patients and their families. i think it deflects resource and tension to other better therapies. and it also turns up a discussion that is a pretty sober discussion, something resembling a

one of them is the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. scientists report it has benefits in covid-19 patients but u.s. officials say the research on its effectiveness is anecdotal. that has not stopped president trump from pushing for it. >> there's a possibility, a possibility -- and i say it, what do you have to lose? what do you have to lose? take it. i think they should take it. but it's their choice and it's their doctor's choice or the doctor's and the hospital. but hydroxychloroquine, try it, if you'd like. >> for now, no product is approved by u.s. authorities to prevent covid-19. let's bring in now a clinical lecturer at king's college. president trump there expressing a lot of optimism around this anti-malarial drug. he talked a lot about it, but only anecdotal reports and one small clinical trial have shown any benefits. i want to talk about your reaction to the president's support of this. >> so i think we have to be careful with any experimental medication about what we assume it can do. we saw during ebola that there were se

. >> so, the hydroxychloroquine is something that i have been pushing very hard. i got the very early approval from the fda. if things don't go as planned, it's not going to kill anybody. it will be wonderful. it will be so beautiful. it will be a gift from heaven. if it works. >> if some other person put it forward, they'd say, oh, let's go with it. you know. what do you have to lose? >> there's a lot of stuff floating around about the hydroxychloroquine. >> very good. >> and the media seems to be almost rooting for it not to work. >> things are happening. i haven't seen bad. i have not seen bad. one thing that we do see is that people are not going to die from it. so, if somebody's in trouble, you take it, i think. >> and it's being used worldwide. >> this study done by reputable center, double-eye-blind, randomized trial, showed there was an improvement in outcomes in patients who took the hydroxychloroquine. it's not a panacea, but you have to respect data. >> in my open, i put in a sound of the woman who was a democrat from detroit, a michigan representative,

in terms of the use of hydroxychloroquine in the last -- the u.s. -- is there any data that would let us know -- the inple that have been intensive care or in really bad shape and that are treated with hydroxychloroquine and recovered ? or people who were not treated with it and did not recover dr. fauci:? any kind of data on that? -- data on that? dr. fauci: sure. the only way you can definitively determine whether a particular interventional agent, in this case hydroxychloroquine, is effective and safe is if you do a controlled trial that you compare it to something. there has been a number of anecdotal reports of people saying i gave it to someone and they did well. it is difficult to make any determination because often come people do well, even if you do nothing but standard care. we need to rely on well-controlled, well followed, well-designed clinical trials to determine definitively whether any drug, including hydroxychloroquine works. the other thing is that there is a safety issue. one of the issues is that some individuals, it causes an electrical abnormality. this becomes

. >> for 16 years she had a prescription for hydroxychloroquine. but last week, mara's doctor at kaiser permanente emailed her we are not able to refill your hydroxychloroquine refill at this time. it's now reserved for those who are the most ill from covid-19. >> if it is the miracle cure, i'd be okay with that. but the fact that that's not even the case yet, and they don't even know if that's an option, and they're already limiting medications, it's very frustrating. >> the pharmacist gave mara a final two-week supply. she has cut the pills in half to make them last long earp. in a statement to the i-team, kaiser's doctor writes we are sorry the concern this may cause. we have asked our physicians to work with our patients to convert when appropriate from hydroxychloroquine to very good alternative other medications. but mara tells me other medications have serious side effects, and she is worried about her symptoms returning. >> it's just going to severely impact me being able to go to work. >> and your ability to function? >> definitely, yeah.

for example, we discussed hydroxychloroquine. do we know anything about what the nih is doing in great britain to help them? >> president trump: what happened is he called me at the beginning of his ordeal. so maybe ten days ago or so. and we talked. and he didn't sound good at all. then it was announced that he was positive and that was before i knew this, but then it was announced he was positive. he stayed at 10, number 10 downing street, number ten downing is one of the most incredible places. i spent a lot of time with them there. he seemed to be getting worse. then they brought him to the hospital. that's a bad sign. when they bring you to the hospital with this one, this is not having your appendix taken out. that's a bad thing. and they are giving him oxygen. but he's not on a ventilator yet, which is very good. because that's tough. the ventilator stuff is tough. when you go on that, it's not a good thing. as of this moment, he's not supposedly up. as far as the treatment is concerned, i actually have four companies that

again, hydroxychloroquine.ell, the cynic in me wonders if it's because big pharma can't make money off of it but remember, it's cheap, it's an old dot demand drug, it safe, and generic. it scalable, we can get it quickly and cheaply and that's what he wanted a crisis. china has all ready done controlled study which is very promising. the noncontrolled study and friends were really impressive as well and the epidemiologist and all europe and he said you got to use it. of renowned infectious disease specialist dr. steven smith who is treating dozens of covid patients, he described the amazing results he's getting with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. >> we treat everything with hydroxychloroquine, and numbers and as you see five days or more without hydroxychloroquine, zithromycin combination has been inundated. if this is beginning of the end. of the pandemic. i'm very serious. >> laura: when he said that, my heart stopped, i thought he meant the beginning of the end of the end, not the pandemic. if watching

the national institutes of health recommended against the combination of hydroxychloroquine and zit row my sin. also sold as a z pack unless the patient is in a clinical trial saying there is potential for tox is tiicitie toxicities. >> they're recommending against the use of hydroxychloroquine with the combination of z pack. >> i'm always willing to take a look. >> there are other studies that helped covid-19 patients, such as remdesivir. the nih panel didn't endorse any of them saying more clinical trials need to be done. now doctors are planning to study another class of drugs, those that treat blood clots. >> virtually every single person i see that i'm asked to interview and examine has a clotting problem with the disease. the clotting problems are the most profound that i've seen in the icu setting. >> nick cordero contracted the virus and had his leg amputated because of a blood clot. he survived but blood clots can be deadly. trying to figure out the right drug to prevent the clots. another way to save the lives of patients with the novel coronavirus. elizabeth cohen, cnn re

that's why treatment in the interim, hydroxychloroquine is for example, dr.z will explain later, it is imperative in light of what we are seeing in the data we articulated, albeit you can have a clinical study. meanwhile italy appears to be flattening the curve finally as a state cases have now slowed ever now since the nationwide lockdown they are. back here at home, so many great americans, it's inspiring to watch them rise to the occasion. tom brady teaming up with a nonprofit to distribute 10 million meals to those in need, even leonardo dicaprio, good for you. he is helping launch another $12 million food donation program and one celebrity chef has promised to give doctors and nurses free meals when his restaurants reopen. that's awesome. and an artist in brooklyn, new york, is working day and night on her own 3d printer to turn out face shields for medical workers. awesome american. heroic actions are now underway all over the country. this pandemic is a serious crisis. using the best in people, the overwhelming majority, and then you see the worst in o

hydroxychloroquine has been used for years for lupus and is safe. we also know that when it's combined with other drugs there might be an increased risk of complication. so doctors need to be aware of this and make a decision that is best for the patients. one thing i know about american and nursesur doctors do. they have the interests of their patients at heart and that relationship is sacred and really important to keep it within that conversation. bob: final question, dr. hahn. i know you're busy. the president has been talking about trying to reopen parts of the country and the economy around may 1. are you comfortable with that decision and the push to move toward may 1 as a reopening date for parts of the economy? dr. hahn: this is going to be a data and science driven decision. i am comfortable using science and data to make that decision. i have been proud of the task force and how the doctors have come together with everyone, governors, folks in congress, the white house, to have collaborative discussions. a lot of give-and-take and a lot o

hydroxychloroquine with the azithromycin pack in hospitals at their discretion. we had a 14 day limit on how much you could buy. because so many people were trying to buy it. the federal government increases the supply to new york which they say they're going to do, then we could lift the 14 day limit. anecdotally, you'll get suggestions that it has been effective, but we don't have any official data yet the hospital. >> sean: yes, he is providing you the hydroxychloroquine just like he provided you all the masts and all the ventilators and building the hospitals and now staffing the hospitals because you didn't listen to your task force. calling on the governor of new york to immediately lift the pharmacy ban on getting this drug. in other words, pharmacies because of an executive order, they can no longer fulfill of prescription for hydroxychloroquine if a patient and a doctor think that they need it. i wrote an op-ed this weekend for foxnews.com. this should be a decision between the doctors and the patients, not governor cuomo or conrad de blasio. and as dr.

hydroxychloroquine has been used for years for lupus and is safe. but when combined with other drugs there might be an increased risk of heart complication so doctors need to be aware of this and make a decision that is best for the patient. have thers and nurses interest of the patients at heart and that relationship is sacred. the president has been talking about trying to reopen parts of the country and the economy around may 1. are you comfortable with that decision and the push to move toward may 1 as a reopening date? datais is going to be a and science driven decision. i have been proud of the task force and how the doctors have come together with everyone, governors, congress, the white house, to have collaborative discussions. a lot of give and take and discussion about this. the recommendations the president has will be fully informed by our science and data. any metric on testing you want to see before that happens? >> i want to see the appropriate use of testing in this setting. i know task force doctors have worked very hard to determin

i have a question about in terms of using hydroxychloroquine in the u.s., the number of deaths -- is there any data that would the people that have been in intensive care or in really bad shape and are treated with hydroxychloroquine and recover or the people that and didtreated with it not recover, any data on that? dr. fauci: sure. let me start off by saying the only way you can really definitively determine whether a particular interventional agent, in this case hydroxychloroquine, is effective and safe is if you do a randomized controlled trial in which you compare it to something. the something could be standard of care, that something could be another agent. there has been a number of anecdotal reports of people saying i gave it to someone and they did well. that is very difficult to make any determination about that, because often people do well even if you do nothing but standard of care. the short answer to your question is we need to rely on well-controlled, well followed, well-designed clinical trials to determine definitively whether any drug, including hydroxychloroquine

i'm going to speak about hydroxychloroquine and the efforts around that. just to preface, i'd like to echo what the president said about the american people and the resiliency and the just terrific work, mitigation is such an important part of our fight against the covid-19 virus. last week, as the president said, we issued an emergency use authorization to allow the donated hydroxychloroquine to come into the country and enter the general circulation. we are prioritizing this drug to come in for clinical trials, also to general use for physicians because as you know, physicians, based upon their interaction with the patients, their assessment of the risks and benefits, can write a prescription for hydroxychloroquine if they think it's appropriate for the patient. being a physician, we do this all the time. and that assessment needs to be done between a patient and a doctor. and then the third portion is, we wanted to make sure that these drugs were in the circulation, in the supply chain so that people who have them or need them for the other indications,

. >> so, the hydroxychloroquine is something that i have been pushing very hard.fda. if things don't go as planned, it's not going to kill anybody. it will be wonderful. it will be so beautiful. it will be a gift from heaven, if it works. if some other person put it forward, they'd say, oh, let's go with it, you know, what do you have to lose? >> there's a lot of stuff flowing about about the hydroxychloroquine -- >> very good. >> and the media seems to be almost rooting for it not to work. >> things are happening. i haven't seen bad. i have not seen bad. one thing that we do see is that people are not going to die from it. so, if somebody's in trouble, you take it, i think. i would. >> and it's being used worldwide. >> this study done by reputable center, double-eye blind randomized trial showed an improvement in outcomes in patients that took the hydroxychloroquine. it's not a panacea, but you have to respect data. >> in my open, i put in a sound of the woman who was a democrat from detroit, a michigan representative who said, you know, thank god for donald trum

not in one dosage written of hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin.'ve never seen an efficacy drug trial or study not mentioned in the dose. >> laura: doctor, we actually reached out to the authors of that -- >> so did i.n' >> laura: they wouldn't answer our questions of timing. level of dosing. we still haven't heard back. >> not one person in that paper saw one hydroxychloroquine patient. only three mds, all ophthalmology trained. i just went here in the iv department, that's fine, he's good at that. the other two mds in that study, they are ophthalmology trained in other countries and they work in the lab. it's a sham, and shame on the uva. m i sent a letter to the med school va. i haven't heard from them. it's an embarrassment that va even called it a study. >> laura: the fda's warning about it, dr. smith, is now leading hospital groups like john hopkins to pull back from hydroxychloroquine because of heart issues, which dr. raoult did not find, it's been prescribed to pregnant women for decades even when they have rheumatoidth arthritis. somethin

can i be part of the trial and get the hydroxychloroquine? gov. noem: the important thing to note is -- dr. suttle can give more details -- a clinical trial starts with about 2000 people. we can treat up to 100,000 people with the amount of doses in south dakota. that number is very significant for the amount of drugs we have been able to secure with partnership from the health systems, but also the federal government stepped up to get us the doses they need. my initial request was $1.2 million and they will be supplying that for us. the 100,000 patients that can be treated should let south dakota and snow -- south dakotans know that those who have high risk writers -- conditions, their providers can protect them because they are exposed to individuals dealing with the virus and we also have a balance of individuals who will receive it who are struggling to get better. >> i am not sure how clinical trials work, but does your health insurance coverage or is it free? >> clinical trials are funded by the organization area -- organization. it is not a