Of course, we knew that
someone who committed criminal violations of campaign-finance laws to get
elected; who refused to divest himself from his business interests and violated
the Emoluments Clause (Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution); who undeservedly elevated his own children to prominent
public positions in a brazen act of nepotistic corruption; who continues
to undermine the wall of separation between his family business and the
U.S. government and uses the office of presidency for self-aggrandizing and for
monetizing his family and himself... would stand to benefit from pushing this drug -Glen Brown.
“Donald Trump and his allies in
the conservative media sphere have repeatedly pushed the health benefits of
anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for patients who have contracted the
novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). While scientific opinion on the efficacy of the
drug for treatment of the COVID-19 disease is necessarily shy of consensus,
Trump himself has a personal financial interest in a French drug maker that
produces a brand-name version of the medication. According to a Monday night report
by the New York Times, Trump’s family stands to
benefit from widespread use of the drug. Per that report:
“‘If hydroxychloroquine becomes an accepted
treatment, several pharmaceutical companies stand to profit, including
shareholders and senior executives with connections to the president. Mr. Trump
himself has a small personal financial interest in Sanofi, the French drug maker
that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.’
“According
to Trump’s 2019 Executive Branch
Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Reports filed with the
U.S. Office of Government Ethics, the 45th president’s three family trusts each
have two line item entries describing investments between $1,001 and $15,000
apiece in the Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund.
“The Times notes that Sanofi, the drug manufacturer,
is the mutual fund’s largest individual holding. According to
MarketWatch, the exact size of the fund’s stake in Sanofi ‘at last
check was 3.3%.’ Marketwatch also notes–and shrugs off–additional Sanofi
stakes:
“‘It turns out he does look to have more than [a]
modest sum invested in Sanofi, because, unmentioned in the Times report, his trusts also hold broader
European stock-market index funds.’ The iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF IEFA, 1.721%
has 0.67% of its holdings in Sanofi, and Sanofi is a 0.78% holding for the
iShares MSCI EAFE ETF EFA, 1.660%, which is neither surprising nor notable, in
that the French drug maker is so large.
“Aside from Trump and his family’s personal stake,
at least two of Trump’s closest political allies are closely connected to Sanofi
as well. Republican mega donor and billionaire Ken Fisher runs Fisher Asset Management, one
of the drug manufacturer’s largest shareholders. According to Federal Election
Committee (FEC) data compiled by OpenSecrets, Fisher Investments has
contributed in excess of $2 million to GOP organizations and politicians over
the past five election cycles.
“A July 2019 CNBC article notes
Fisher’s direct relationship with Trump: ‘Kenneth Fisher, the founder of
investment advisory firm Fisher Investments, along with his wife Sherrilyn,
combined to give $250,000 [to fund the Trump Victory Committee]. Fisher
historically has backed Republican efforts and contributed to Trump’s first run
for president.’
“Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a loyal Trump
appointee, previously ran the Invesco mutual fund. That fund is also heavily
invested in Sanofi. In a Monday statement obtained by the Times, Ross sought to
distance himself from both his former work and the administration’s current
jones for hydroxychloroquine pills.
“Ross claimed he ‘was not aware that Invesco has any
investments in companies producing’ the anti-malarial medication, ‘nor do I
have any involvement in the decision to explore this as a treatment.’
“Trump,
on the other hand, is pitching hydroxychloroquine as something of a wonder drug
in an attempt to dredge hope from whatever he can. ‘What really do we have to
lose?’ Trump asked during a Sunday press briefing, while boosting the drug’s
potential for the umpteenth time–despite the lack of proof about its effects
and warnings from doctors that patients who have long needed the medication may
face a run on supplies and rising costs.
“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notes the
scientific uncertainty around hydroxychloroquine in a fact
sheet specifically about Plaquenil, which is typically prescribed
for adult lupus patients. ‘The precise mechanism by which hydroxychloroquine
exhibits activity against [the malaria parasite] is not known,’ the FDA fact
sheet reads. ‘Hydroxychloroquine, like chloroquine, is a weak base and may
exert its effect by concentrating in the acid vesicles of the parasite and by
inhibiting polymerization of heme. It can also inhibit certain enzymes by its
interaction with DNA.’
“Notably, a scientific publication which published
the initial study on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in treating Coronavirus
patients has since performed an explicit
volte-face on those initial findings–saying the article extolling
the virtues for COVID-19 treatment ‘does not meet the [International Society of
Antimicrobial Chemotherapy’s] expected standard, especially relating to the
lack of better explanations of the inclusion criteria and the triage of
patients to ensure patient safety.’
“As
Law & Crime reported on
Monday, Sanofi isn’t the only hydroxychloroquine connection to
Trump. Novartis, a manufacturer of the drug that agreed to donate up
to 130 million doses, once paid Trump’s
former personal attorney Michael Cohen more
than $1 million for healthcare policy insight following
the election in 2016” (Trump Family Trusts Are Invested in Hydroxychloroquine Maker, MSN.com).
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