Governor Faces Backlash Over Controversial Hydroxychloroquine Purchase

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – State officials came under fire over a controversial purchase of anti-malaria drugs to treat COVID-19 patients.

During the state’s daily COVID-19 update on Friday, Governor Gary Herbert said the state ordered the drugs in the early days of the pandemic under what he believes was good faith. But he’s putting a stop to any future purchases and ordering a full review of the first order of 20,000 hydroxychloroquine doses, which cost $800,000.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issuing a warning against the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine in treating COVID-19 patients.

“The FDA is aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with COVID-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, often in combination with azithromycin and other QT-prolonging medicines. We are also aware of increased use of these medicines through outpatient prescriptions. Therefore, we would like to remind health care professionals and patients of the known risks associated with both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine,” officials said in a statement. “We will continue to investigate risks associated with the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for COVID-19 and communicate publicly when we have more information. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19.”

The drugs are commonly used to treat malaria and lupus, but the FDA warned they’re causing serious heart rhythm problems when used on COVID-19 patients and should not be used outside of clinical trials.

“They do want the trials to still go forward, maybe the benefits will be shown to outweigh the risks and we need to know that, maybe the risks will be shown to be really bad and outweigh the benefits and we need to know that,” said state Rep. Raymond Ward, R-Bountiful, who argued the state needs to wait for more results from medical trials before banking on the drugs. Ward is also a physician.

The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget purchased 20,000 doses from locally-owned Meds in Motion pharmacy for $800,000 on March 31.

The drugs have not been delivered yet but the purchase has come under severe criticism from some lawmakers and others, including the Alliance for a Better Utah, which said the state didn’t go through the proper channels.

“We are concerned that this could be someone making a private profit off a drug that is not proven and that could be dangerous if we end up using it to treat this virus,” said Chase Thomas, executive director of the Alliance for a Better Utah.

Herbert addressed the issue during the state’s daily COVID-19 press conference on Friday. Herbert said he was unaware of the purchase as it was likely one of many during the early days of the pandemic when the state was rushing to procure essential supplies.

Herbert said his understanding is that there was a lot of hype about the success of the medication in treating COVID-19, worry that supplies would run out as demand increased and wanting to make sure there was a supply for patients who regularly use it for the intended on-label use.

He said they also felt assured the federal government would reimburse them for their purchase.

However, as concerns were raised about the efficacy of using the drugs in treating patients, Herbert said he is putting the brakes on future purchases and ordering a full review to make sure things were handled properly.

“As this has come out, I have some questions,” Herbert said. “Bottom line is we’re not purchasing any more of this drug…hydroxychloroquine.”

Herbert said the drugs haven’t been delivered yet and he is looking into getting a refund.

“I’m hopeful. That is why it’s under review to see what can be done. It would be nice if they just said, ‘we had a miscommunication here, we apologize here is your money back.’ We have not received the product yet, so that is part of why we are undergoing a review of the entire process and a legal review to see what our options are,” Herbert said.

Meanwhile, Ward proposed an amendment to recent legislation that would restrict the purchase of medications for a government stockpile unless they’re approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19. Ward said there is a real danger in banking on the anti-malaria drugs.

“There have been people who died from that treatment. They didn’t die from COVID, they had COVID but then they died because we gave them a medicine that caused their heart to flip into ventricular fibrillation and it killed them. There is reason to be careful,” Ward said.

Ward’s amendment did not pass. It was proposed for a bill that sets aside about $6 million to be used for treating the virus. In total, the state has started the process to set aside about $8 million for treatments. On Friday, Herbert said the money will also be used to purchase PPE and other essential supplies.

Herbert said he plans on consulting with the medical community and health experts before moving forward with any future drug purchases.

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