Dr. Simone Gold and Dr. James Todaro, two medical experts, have claimed that they met Vice President Mike Pence, who is head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, to discuss the abilities of the doctors to prescribe the controversial medication hydroxychloroquine.
In a Tweet, Gold wrote:"We have just met with Vice President Mike Pence to request the administration's assistance in empowering doctors to prescribe hydroxychloroquine without political obstruction. We also discussed the recent censorship of doctors on social media platforms."
Even though as per reports, Pence's schedule for July 28 showed that he had planned a meeting with physicians to discuss the Coronavirus at around 5.30 pm, no official comment was made on Gold's claim.
The Organization Spreading Misleading Coronavirus Information
Gold is a Los Angeles-based emergency medicine specialist. She also heads a recently created organization, called America's Frontline Doctors. The group that conducted a press conference, Tea Party Patriots shared the misleading information about the COVID-19 and claimed that the hydroxychloroquine, a drug highly promoted by Donald Trump, is the cure for the deadly disease which killed around 150,000 people in the U.S.
As per the world's top researchers and health organizations there is no known cure for the novel Coronavirus caused disease, COVID-19. In June, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had revoked the emergency use of the medication—hydroxychloroquine-- which can cause serious side effects such as heart issues, skin rashes, nausea, diarrhea, and headaches.
Hydroxychloroquine and a related drug, chloroquine, have been under study as possible treatments for COVID-19. Earlier hospitals in Sweden also tried to use the antimalaria drug chloroquine on their patients but stopped soon after the medication gave way to dangerous side effects on Coronavirus patients.
The press conference was live-streamed by Breitbart News and later, the video footage was retweeted by Trump. But soon, the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pulled the video-- which featured the group calling itself America's Frontline Doctors-- from their sites because it violated their rules on spreading misinformation about the Coronavirus.
Twitter also temporarily suspended the account of Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., on Tuesday, July 28 after he tweeted a link to the controversial video, prompting a rebuke from his adviser that tech companies are stifling conservative voices.
Gold said in the video. "We're here because we feel as though the American people have not heard from all of the expertise that's out there all across our country." However, the website of the group was created in July and now it is "Unavailable."
Member of America's Frontline Doctors
The other member of the dubious organization, Todaro tweeted on Wednesday that he had a "great meeting" with Pence and his chief of staff Marc Short and added, "We are doing everything to restore the power of medicine back to doctors. Doctors everywhere should be able to prescribe Hydroxychloroquine without repercussions or obstruction."
Other members of the controversial organization include Stella Immanuel, a medical expert who is listed as a licensed pediatrician by the Texas Medical Board. Her name came under the spotlight after she Tweeted asking Trump for a personal meeting. It was also reported that Immanuel previously touted outlandish claims which included that cysts and endometriosis were caused after having sex dreams with demons.
While referring to Immanuel, Trump said on Tuesday, "I thought she was very impressive, in the sense that, from where she came — I don't know what country she comes from — but she said that she's had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients. I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her."
