The posting of a video of doctors testifying that they’ve seen first-hand what peer-reviewed studies worldwide indicate – that hydroxychloroquine is a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19 – has resulted in the temporary suspension of social media accounts of PragerU, other prominent conservatives and one of the doctors in the video.
Twitter explained that PragerU and others were suspended because of the social media platform’s “policy on spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19,” Breitbart News reported.
See PragerU’s offending video here
One of the physicians in the video of a press conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday with “America’s Frontline Doctors,” Dr. Simone Gold, wrote on Twitter that the company hosting the doctors’ website, Squarespace, took down the site due to a “violation of their terms of service.”
Gold, a board certified emergency physician for 20 years in Los Angeles, told Tucker Carlson on Thursday night she has been fired because of the video.
She told Carlson the doctors have published a white paper presenting the science backing hydroxychloroquine, which she noted is an FDA-approved medication that’s been in use for 65 years.
The press conference was tied to a summit of more than seven hours in Washington on a wide range of subjects relevant to the pandemic, including the lockdowns and whether or not children should return to school this fall.
Videos of the press conference and the summit can be viewed here
WOW: Our website host @Squarespace has just completely and arbitrarily shut down our website, claiming a violation of their terms of service.
We are a group of physicians advocating for a better understanding of COVID-19 and its available treatment options.
This is outrageous. pic.twitter.com/TNwvpbsBGC
— Dr. Simone Gold (@drsimonegold) July 28, 2020
Earlier this week, Twitter suspended the account of the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. for 12 hours after he shared a video clip of press conference in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.
PragerU’s tweet promoting the video said: “American doctors are holding a ‘White Coat Summit’ in Washington, D.C. to address ‘a massive disinformation campaign’ by the media about coronavirus. Watch as Dr. Stella Immanuel tackles the media’s narrative about hydroxychloroquine.”
Breitbart reported director and producer Robby Starbuck was suspended from Twitter on Wednesday after replying to someone: “I guess you think Dr. Harvey Risch, an epidemiology professor at Yale School of Public Health isn’t a real doctor? He’s also touting that Hydroxychloroquine works.”
‘A political drug’
Risch, in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on July 20, said hydroxychloroquine is “a political drug now, not a medical drug.”
He said establishment media and politicians are “basically fighting a propaganda war against the medical facts” that is shaping not only how the population views the drug, but doctors as well.”
Risch said he’s received “hostile remarks” from doctors who say that “all the evidence is bad for it.”
“And in fact, that’s not true at all. And it’s easy to show that the evidence – all the evidence is actually good for it when it’s used in outpatient uses,” he said. “Nevertheless, the only people who actually see that are a whole pile of doctors who are actually on the frontlines treating those patients across the country. And they are the ones who are at risk of being forced not to do it.”
In a guest column for Newsweek, Risch, who has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and currently hold senior positions on the editorial boards of several leading journals, argued hydroxychloroquine is the key to containing the virus.
On May 27, he published an article in the the world’s leading epidemiology journal, the American Journal of Epidemiology, that analyzed five studies “demonstrating clear-cut and significant benefits” to treating patients with hydroxychloroquine along with other very large studies that demonstrated its safety.
“Physicians who have been using these medications in the face of widespread skepticism have been truly heroic,” he wrote in the Newsweek column. “They have done what the science shows is best for their patients, often at great personal risk. I myself know of two doctors who have saved the lives of hundreds of patients with these medications, but are now fighting state medical boards to save their licenses and reputations. The cases against them are completely without scientific merit.”
Among the many other physicians who have found hydroxychloroquine to be an effective treatment for COVID patients is Dr. Stephen M. Smith of East Orange, New Jersey.
In an interview with WND in May, Smith expressed his frustration with the politicization of hydroxychloroquine and the disconnect between the scientific data on the drug and the statements of scientists, media and politicians who have access to that data.
Smith, who briefed President Trump in April on the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, pointed out the World Health Organization temporarily halted studying hydroxychloroquine in response to a widely reported observational study published in the medical journal The Lancet that concluded seriously ill COVID-19 patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine were more likely to die.
But in an embarrassing turn, the premiere journal was forced to withdraw the study after three of the four authors issued an apology, citing concerns about the quality and veracity of the data.
The Lancet study’s fatal flaws were immediately apparent to Smith when the study was released in May. Dr. Marc Siegel, associate professor of medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center, called The Lancet study a “political hit job.”
Other physicians who back the treatment are Dr. Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution; Dr. Anthony Cardillo, an emergency medicine specialist in Glendale, California; and Dr. Zev Zelenko.
Atlas said in an interview with Ben Shapiro that there is “fundamental biology” behind why hydroxychloroquine works, “it’s not just some sort of strange anecdote.”
‘Attacked, ridiculed and discredited’
Twitter also locked out Dr. Stella Immanuel, who said at the “White Coat Summit” she has successfully treated more than 350 patients with hydroxychloroquine, zinc and azithromycin.
She and her staff take hydroxychloroquine as a preventative.
“WE NEED YOUR HELP. We are being attacked, ridiculed and discredited. We need our patients to SPEAK UP,” the doctor wrote in a tweet that later was deleted.
“If you have been cured by this drug, share your story online using this hashtag #HCQWorks.”
EXCLUSIVE interview with Dr Immanuel who claims to have SUCCESSFULLY treated 100s of COVID-19 patients. pic.twitter.com/MCYWbW3ZfU
— 🇺🇸Maggie VandenBerghe🇺🇸 (@FogCityMidge) July 30, 2020
Some took issue with her describing hydroxychloroquine as a “cure” while others argued the point is that the patients recovered from COVID-19.
Many skeptics questioned whether or not the presenters Monday actually were physicians.
Here’s a summary of their credentials:
- Simone Gold, MD: Emergency medicine specialist in Los Angeles with more 31 years of experience. She graduated from Rosalind Franklin University Of Medicine Science/The Chicago Medical School medical school in 1989 and is affiliated with Centinela Hospital Medical Center.
- Bob Hamilton, MD: Pediatrician from Santa Monica, California, who graduated from the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles.
- Stella Emmaneul, MD: Primary care doctor in Houston, Texas. A native of Cameroon who obtained a degree in medicine in Nigeria. She practiced in Louisiana before moving to Texas, where she says she has treated more than 350 COVID-19 patients.
- Dr. Dan Erickson, DO: Emergency medicines Specialist in Bakersfield, CA with more than 16 years experience in medicine. YouTube censored his video with another physician who after testing more than 5,200 patients argued the sheltering-in-place policies not only are unnecessary, they’re harmful.
- Dr. James Todaro, MD: Ophthalmology specialist who earned his medical degree at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
- Dr. Joe Ladapo MD, PhD: Physician and health policy researcher in Los Angeles. He is associate professor-in-residence at the David Geffen School of Medicine. He previously was a faculty member in the Department of Population Health at the New York University School of Medicine and as staff fellow at the Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. David Samadi was also suspended from Twitter after violating rules regarding information about the coronavirus pandemic, Breitbart reported.
“If people hate President Trump, that is entirely their prerogative,” tweeted Samadi. “When their hatred causes them to deliberately hide good news about a life-saving treatment for a global pandemic, that is when the line is crossed. Hydroxychloroquine works and it has worked.”
Australian-American author Nick Adams was suspended for 12 hours for tweeting: “Hydroxychloroquine SAVES lives! Rt!”
