Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pence Met With Doctors Featured In Discredited Viral Video
CNN: Some Doctors Met With Pence After Their Group's Video Was Removed For Misleading Info
Vice President Mike Pence and members of his staff met Tuesday with some of the doctors who were featured in a video that was later removed from social media for misinformation, those doctors said on Wednesday. The video, which was shared by President Donald Trump before being removed, featured members of the group America's Frontline Doctors standing on the steps of the Supreme Court claiming that masks aren't necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus and promoting hydroxychloroquine as a cure. Both claims are contradicted by scientific studies. The most prominent person featured in the video, Stella Immanuel -- who has said in the past that DNA from space aliens is being used in medicine -- did not meet with Pence. (Liptak, 7/29)
PolitiFact: Who Are The Doctors In The Viral Hydroxychloroquine Video?
The physicians in the video are associated with a group called America’s Frontline Doctors, which advocates against official narratives of the coronavirus pandemic. The group, whose now-defunct website was registered on July 16, was in Washington for a "White Coat Summit," after which some of the doctors met with Vice President Mike Pence. All of the physicians we fact-checked have a history of making unproven, conspiratorial or bizarre medical claims. (Funke, 7/29)
Houston Chronicle: Houston Doctor Behind Hydroxychloroquine Drug Video Was Sued In Louisiana Woman’s Death
Dr. Stella Grace Immanuel was front and center outside the Supreme Court on Monday when she and about a dozen others in white lab coats prescribed a message that President Donald Trump liked. ... Court filings reviewed by the Houston Chronicle also reveal she was recently sued in Louisiana for medical malpractice in a case involving a woman who died after being treated in Immanuel’s care. (Hensley and Lewis, 7/29)
The Hill: Fauci Says Viral Video Retweeted By Trump Features 'A Bunch Of People Spouting Something That Isn't True'
Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, dismissed a viral video that President Trump shared this week that makes misleading claims about coronavirus. (Pitofsky, 7/29)
Also —
AP: Misinformation On Coronavirus Is Proving Highly Contagious
As the world races to find a vaccine and a treatment for COVID-19, there is seemingly no antidote in sight for the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and sham cures. The phenomenon, unfolding largely on social media, escalated this week when President Donald Trump retweeted a false video about an anti-malaria drug being a cure for the virus and it was revealed that Russian intelligence is spreading disinformation about the crisis through English-language websites. (Klepper, 7/29)
The Washington Post: Madonna Keeps Making Controversial Covid-19 Claims, Calling Stella Immanuel Her ‘Hero’
Pop star Madonna built a career partly on controversy, so it may come as little surprise that she has continuously made controversial claims about the coronavirus. On Tuesday night, she shared a viral video of Stella Immanuel, a member of the self-dubbed America’s Frontline Doctors who recently spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court and claimed that neither masks nor shutdowns are required to fight the pandemic, despite widespread evidence to the contrary. Immanuel further made the unsubstantiated claim that hydroxychloroquine is a “cure for covid,” despite there being no known cure for the disease. (Andrews, 7/29)
