Trump Pushing New Unproven Plant Extract as COVID-19 Treatment: Report

‘DUBIOUS’

Madeline Charbonneau

Cheat Sheet Intern

Updated Aug. 16, 2020 8:38PM ET / Published Aug. 16, 2020 8:37PM ET

Tom Pennington/Getty

President Donald Trump is reportedly encouraging the Food and Drug Administration to approve oleander plant extract to treat COVID-19, despite the fact that the dietary supplement has not been proven to treat the disease, according to an Axios report. Oleandrin, the experimental extract, was presented to the president in July during an Oval Office meeting and has been touted by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, as well as MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Lindell is a key Trump supporter who recently invested in the company producing the unproven extract. “The involvement of the Secretary of HUD and MyPillow.com in pushing a dubious product at the highest levels should give Americans no comfort at night about their health and safety during a raging pandemic,” a senior administration official said. Trump previously pushed another unproven drug, hydroxychloroquine, to be approved by the FDA following a similar private meeting.

Read it at Axios