News — 06 April 2020

(Supporting links are in bold)

Amneal is the primary maker of hydroxychloroquine. Amneal and Novartis are the primary drug distributors for the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration. Novartis is the company which paid Michael Cohen 1.2 million for access.

Amneal is represented by lobbying group Capitol Hill Consulting Group. Their Senior Vice President and a senior advisor in the health care practice is former Trump administration official, Emily Wilkinson. While part of the administration, Wilkinson was first an Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), and then as a Senior Advisor to Administrator Seema Verma at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Capitol Hill Consulting Group was DIRECTLY tied to Trump campaign by way of former Florida Congressman Steve Southerland, who was a chief fundraiser for the campaign back in ’16. Southerland is now another one of the consulting group’s senior vice presidents. The Group openly touts its connection and relationship with the Trump campaign and administration.

The two biggest proponents of hydroxychloroquine also happen to be FOX News contributor Dr. Oz and the president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

(I’m sure all of the aforementioned are just coincidences and are in no way connected to the president’s pushing for the use of the drug.)

The Surgeon General Jerome Adams, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, members of the national pandemic team have all declined to endorse use of the drug as an alternative treatment to COVID-19. The CDC has also made no such recommendation at this time. The FDA (a subset of the Department of Health and Human Services) has though approved emergency use of drug, though there has been no underlying testing to support efficacy.

(Any influence on this decision by the relationship between the pharmaceutical companies responsible for the production of hydroxychloroquine noted at the top and their relationship with the federal government is your assumption to make. I won’t stop you.)

Refresher:

Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: AMRX) and AvKARE Inc. today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Amneal will acquire a 65.1% majority interest in AvKARE and its related affiliate doing business as R&S Northeast (collectively, “AvKARE”) for an implied enterprise value of $340 million. Following the close of the transaction, AvKARE will operate on a standalone basis as an independent subsidiary of Amneal.

AvKARE is one of the largest private label providers of generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S. federal agency sector, primarily focused on serving the Department of Defense (“DoD”) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”). The company utilizes its relationships with more than 50 generic pharmaceutical vendors to offer a proprietary line of specially packaged products under its own labels.

At this point, one man has died and his wife hospitalized after ingesting chloroquine phosphate, which is an ingredient found in fish tank cleaner after the mention of the use of hydroxychloroquine by the president.

Nigeria has already reported hydroxychloroquine poisonings specifically in response to use of the drug after the president’s recommendation.

American Medical Association President Dr. Patrice Harris reiterated this danger.

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Mo'Kelly

Morris W. O'Kelly (Mo'Kelly) is a columnist, radio and television commentator. Visit https://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo'Kelly. Find him on social media - @mrmokelly

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