- Some news of the day items for you.

The hydroxychloroquine.

What do you know, I said it correctly.

Hydroxychloroquine, I knowthe media's dinging him up

on this and you talked alittle bit about it earlier

on Fox and Friends and some other places,

but just so I understand,

how comfortable is thePresident with doing this

and did, specifically, thedoctor prescribe it for him?

Just understanding it.

- Yes, the doctor did prescribe it for him

and he took it afterhaving several discussions

with Dr. Connolly about it'sefficacy and he believed that,

Dr. Connolly, that thebenefits outweighed the risk

for the President and hydroxychloroquine,

it's worth mentioning, is adrug that has been approved

for at least three other conditions.

Malaria is one of them, as a prophylaxis.

I had someone in my officesay, oh I've taken this drug

several times ahead of megoing to trips in places where

there were malaria-heavy areas.

Lupus is another example.

So this is a drug that isout there that has been shown

to be safe with theseconditions and there was issued

an emergency-use authorizationto use this as, essentially,

like a right to try.

So if you're someone whohas this, who's looking for

a therapeutic, who hasCOVID and is looking

for a therapeutic,hydroxychloroquine is something

some doctors professed optimism about.

We know it's approved for otheruses, so you do have a right

to try it in essence toreflect on the language

of the President's previouslegislation that gives people

a right to try in thewaning days of their life

or when they're facing a fatal illness.

- Do you think the media'sblowing this out of proportion?

You got Neil Cavuto and JoeScarborough and some others,

and China, quite frankly, justcalled it what, witchcraft,

that the President's doingwitchcraft from the Oval Office.

- Yeah, it's so unfortunatewhen you turn on the headlines

and turn on the TV in themorning, as I did this morning,

watching a certain networkand to hear just complete

misinformation about hydroxychloroquine,

suggesting that it couldbe fatal for someone

should they take it, when,in fact, there are millions

of Americans who take itfor arthritis, for example.

Yes, it should always besomething that's prescribed

in the context of a doctor patient.

No one should be takingthis drug if not prescribed

by a doctor.

It's very important to say that.

Only your doctor cansay that this is for you

and prescribe it to you.

But nevertheless, to completelyact as if this is some sort

of poison when there aremany, many Americans,

and many people around theworld taking this for Lupus

and other illnesses, it justdoes more harm than good,

that kind of fear mongering,that kind of misinformation.

It's frustrating to turnit on and to see that,

because it ultimately is very damaging.

- The criticism would be thatthe FDA and the government,

if you will, federalgovernment, only recommends that

it be taken in a hospital setting.

So what's the reaction of that,

the pushback about that criticism?

- So I talked to Dr. Hahnabout that this morning

from the FDA and Dr. Hahn said first,

this is a drug that hasa long safety profile.

It should always be prescribedfrom a doctor to a patient,

but has been shown to be safe.

I explicitly asked him whatabout outside of hospitals,

and he said, yes, it's okay.

If the doctor prescribesit to you in your ordinary

point of care, that is anacceptable way to go about this.

I think what is being mistakenis the fact that there was

a safety notificationput out based on a study

that was not a clinical study.

It was not a VA study either,but it was based on fatalities

in the VA and basically it didn't take

into account comorbidities,but it did ask questions

about hydroxychloroquineand they did put out

a safety notice as the FDAregularly does about studies,

but nevertheless, it's still out there.

It's still something theFDA stands behind as saying,

if you are in a situationwhere you're prescribed it

by your doctor, it issomething that you can use

and have access to.

There's a lot of nuances,but those nuances are all

too often left out of the coverage.