President Trump's "game changer" drug he's frequently been advancing in the fight against coronavirus, hydroxychloroquine, has been met with mixed reactions among health professionals and even within his own administration - not the least of which is Dr. Fauci's own changing and at times contradictory statements on its potential effectiveness.
This ongoing debate centered on the anti-malarial treatment drug, which has recently witnessed an avalanche of pushback against Trump in the media — with Attorney General William Barr recently saying the mainstream has been on "jihad" against it — has now entered deep within the bowels of the national security state.
The CIA is now warning its analysts, agents and staff that taking hydroxychloroquine is likely "dangerous" — even potentially leading to "sudden death" — according to a new Washington Post report.
"The warning, featured on a website for CIA employees with questions related to the spread of covid-19, came in late March after public discussion — and promotion by the president — that hydroxychloroquine, administered in concert with the antibiotic azithromycin, might prove effective against the disease," according to report.
The CIA website geared toward employee information and awareness in late March addressed media reports which touted in line with the president that the drug “has activity against the COVID-19 virus.”
But the CIA directive continued:
“At this point, the drug is not recommended to be used by patients except by medical professionals prescribing it as part of ongoing investigational studies. There are potentially significant side effects, including sudden cardiac death, associated with hydroxychloroquine and its individual use in patients need to be carefully selected and monitored by a health care professional,” the answer said, before adding in bold type: “Please do not obtain this medication on your own.”
The internal workforce communications were not meant to be made public and reportedly came in response to specific CIA employee inquiries made to supervisors.
The message to intelligence employees was posted March 27, about a week following President Trump's first comments on the drug at a press briefing. “I think it could be, based on what I see, it could be a game changer,” Trump said at the time.
And on Monday, the president followed with: “Just recently a friend of mine told me he got better from the use of that drug, so who knows?... I think if anybody recommended it other than me, it would be used all over the place” — he said in a clear swipe at the media pile-on.
He noted that in the last week his administration has deployed some 28 million doses of hydroxychloroquine the federal national stockpile. “You combine it with Z-Pak, you combine it with zinc, depending on your doctor's recommendation. It's having some very good results,” the president said.
When pressed by the Post over the internal hydroxychloroquine memo, CIA Public Affairs declined to comment.
