Dr. Mehmet Oz urged New York Governor Chris Cuomo to lift restrictions placed on anti-malaria drugs that have been raised as a possible solution to combat the coronavirus.
Last week, the Cuomo issued an executive order barring doctors in New York from prescribing chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients in state-approved clinical trials. The pair of drugs has previously been advertised by President Donald Trump as a promising method to help infected patients recover. (RELATED: ‘He’s In His Bunker’: Kellyanne Conway Bashes Biden For Taking ‘Petty Shots’ During Pandemic)
“I suspect there were concerns for the folks with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus who are dependent on chloroquine and couldn’t get it,” Dr. Oz said Tuesday to Sean Hannity. “I think … Cuomo passed that law to prevent people from taking it and putting it in their cupboards just in case.”
“It’s an old malaria drug. We’ll have enough of it. We ought to lift the ban.”
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New York currently has the most cases of COVID-19 out of any other state in the U.S. with over 76,000 cases resulting in 1,714 deaths. Cuomo has been viewed favorably by New Yorkers for his handling of the pandemic with 87% of his job performance, according to a Siena College poll.
“Many doctors are prescribing it. Until we get randomized clinical data, which I’m hoping we’ll have over the next months, we are not going to know for sure,” Oz said, “but there are centers all over the world. France and China are researching this actively, as we are in America,” Dr. Oz added.
