Anthony Fauci Ignored Email from Physicist Claiming Hydroxychloroquine Could Help Battle Coronavirus

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases s
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Emails show Dr. Anthony Fauci was advised by Erik Nielsen, a physicist and CEO of Bio-Signal Technologies, in March 2020, that two drugs could possibly help battle the coronavirus pandemic, but Fauci ignored it, claiming the email was “too long” for him to read.

Nielsen, in the email, said he had instructed members of his family to get “Alvesco (ciclesonide) for emergency use only.” He claimed that his “colleagues on the front-line in Japan, China, and Korea found several pre-print papers, that it is an effective treatment for late-stage COVID-19 patients.”

The physicist continued, “Some patients on ventilators who were approaching death have fully recovered after treatment with ciclesonide,” noting “ciclesonide has much smaller particles than other corticosteroids, so it reaches deeper into lungs and alveolis.”

Neilsen claimed there was a second drug that could possibly be used, which he advised his family to get. He wrote to Fauci the drug “is called hydroxychloroquine,” which he said, “also seems to be effective and safe.”

However, he noted, “Alvesco is better because it appears to prevent the virus from replicating so infection is wiped out and no longer contagious. Alvesco seems to be two silver bullets in one.”

Two days after this email, Fauci, to whom the media looked for a trusted voice, said,”The answer is no” when he was asked if hydroxychloroquine is an effective coronavirus treatment during one of the coronavirus task force briefings that took place regularly under the Trump administration. Fauci noted that the “signs of the drug’s promise were purely ‘anecdotal evidence.'”

The newly released email was obtained by BuzzFeed News via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

BuzzFeed reported Fauci declined to comment on the story that was contained in the email.

Fauci has been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.