On March 19, online edition infopostalioni.com published an article, headlined “FDA’s statement: The USA created a drug against coronavirus.” The article reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a statement, as if the USA has developed a drug against novel coronavirus, which is prepared based on anti-malaria drug. According to the article, the information on this matter was spread by NBC broadcasting company, in a special edition, where the vice President Mike Pence stated, as if the drug was being examined at an accelerated rate to make sure it was truly safe.
The headline of the article and its content are manipulative. Under President Trump’s instruction, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must first examine effectiveness of an anti-malaria drug in treatment of novel coronavirus. It will take 12 to 18 months. In a special edition of NBC on March 19, vice President Pence once again reminded the population of the recommendations developed regarding coronavirus. He has not spoken about the drugs to treat the disease.
On March 19, 2020, the U.S. President Donald Trump said he directed FDA to examine whether malaria drug could be used to combat the coronavirus. According to Trump’s statement, testing could take 12 to 18 months. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn noted that it is important “not to provide false hope”. Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that there is no proof of the drug’s effectiveness.
In NBC’s special edition of March 19, that was aired at 12:30 (U.S. time), the U.S. vice President spoke about the situation in the country, and once again reminded the population of the recommendations to comply with in order to stop the spread of coronavirus. Pence has not spoken about an anti-malaria drug.
As an illustration, the article uses the photo of ABC broadcasting company rather than of NBC. It does not accord with the information given in the article, as if Pence has spoken about creation of a drug against coronavirus in a special edition of NBC.
In the face of novel coronavirus global pandemic, a lot of disinformation about the disease has been circulating on the internet, including on drugs that are of readers special interest. Read the materials prepared by Myth Detector on the subject:
How the clickbait websites mislead the readers?
Did Georgian doctors invent a cure for coronavirus?
Prepared by Natia Makharadze
Myth Detector Lab
