U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ-09), Don Beyer (D-VA-08) and Katie Porter (D-CA-45) have written to FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn again calling on the agency to protect the American people from unproven treatments for COVID-19.
“As the United States continues to grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we urge you to be vigilant and watchful of individuals peddling ‘cures’ directly to high-level government officials, including Donald Trump. We are alarmed by recent reports that Mr. Trump and individuals close to him have publicly endorsed another unproven treatment, oleander plant extract, as a cure for COVID-19 infection,” Reps. Pascrell, Beyer, and Porter write.
After purportedly being lobbied by Mike Lindell, a close Trump confidant and the CEO and founder of MyPillow, a Minnesota company best-known for its late-night cable television informercials, Trump has been pushing FDA to either approve Oleandrin as a drug or allow it to be marketed as a dietary supplement.
Lindell has a financial stake in the company developing Oleandrin, derived from Nerium oleander, which is listed by the European Food Safety Authority as containing toxic, addictive, psychotropic, or other substances of concern.
The FDA has never approved any form of Nerium oleander to treat any condition.
A copy of Reps. Pascrell, Beyer, and Porter’s letter to the FDA is available here
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Chris Graham
