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United States Government

Can Oklahoma Return Its $2 Million Stockpile of Hydroxychloroquine? (readfrontier.org) 206

A nonprofit watchdog news site in Tulsa, Oklahoma reports: The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office has been tasked with attempting to return a $2 million stockpile of a malaria drug once touted by former President Donald Trump as a way to treat the coronavirus. In April, Gov. Kevin Stitt, who ordered the hydroxychloroquine purchase, defended it by saying that while it may not be a useful treatment for the coronavirus, the drug had multiple other uses and "that money will not have gone to waste in any respect."

But nearly a year later the state is trying to offload the drug back to its original supplier, California-based FFF Enterprises, Inc, a private pharmaceutical wholesaler...

It's unclear yet how much of the initial $2 million investment in the hydroxychloroquine the state could recoup.

"While governments in at least 20 other states obtained more than 30 million doses of the drug through donations from the federal reserve or private companies, Oklahoma and Utah bought them from private pharmaceutical companies," notes ABC News: Then-Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, initially defended the state's $800,000 purchase of 20,000 packets of hydroxychloroquine compounded with zinc, but later canceled an additional plan to spend $8 million more to buy 200,000 more treatments. The state then managed to secure a refund on the $800,000 no-bid contract it signed with a local pharmacy company that had been promoting the drugs.

The CEO of the pharmacy company has since pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor for mislabeling the drug imported from China.

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Can Oklahoma Return Its $2 Million Stockpile of Hydroxychloroquine?

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 30, 2021 @11:36AM (#61009072)
    It can then be farmed out to the deplorables.
  • Last resort (Score:5, Insightful)

    by burtosis ( 1124179 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @11:54AM (#61009142)
    Ok, if there’s one thing they shouldn’t do is donate them to all the people who need the medication for quality of life like many lupus patients. One taste of socialized medicine and you become addicted, once addicted you become a socialist wielding communist.
    • Donation? How dare you suggest an "entitlement" to those free-loading lupus patients? :P
    • by kaoshin ( 110328 )
      As someone with an autoimmune condition, it costs me like a buck a day. How about socializing me a footlong sandwich instead?
    • If you don't want Americans to become addicted to a first world medical system you could always donate the drug to African countries to treat malaria. The USA may actually win back some of it's decimated goodwill that way.

    • by barakn ( 641218 )

      It was compounded with zinc, so repurposing might be more difficult than people think.

  • by olsmeister ( 1488789 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @11:56AM (#61009148)
    They elected stupid politicians into office who listened to a stupid president who had no clue what he was talking about. You can blame Trump or blame the politicians in Oklahoma, but it all starts with the people that cast the ballots. Do better.
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      You can blame Trump or blame the politicians in Oklahoma, but it all starts with the people that cast the ballots. Do better.

      Really, it all starts with the electoral college. I mean it's not like Trump had anything even close to a majority. The people casting the ballots were clear, it just turns out that your representation depends on where you live.

      • by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @12:07PM (#61009196)

        Oklahoma has been heavy R for a while and it keeps biting them in the ass. https://apnews.com/article/f05... [apnews.com]

      • by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @12:12PM (#61009232)

        You can blame Trump or blame the politicians in Oklahoma, but it all starts with the people that cast the ballots. Do better.

        Really, it all starts with the electoral college. I mean it's not like Trump had anything even close to a majority. The people casting the ballots were clear, it just turns out that your representation depends on where you live.

        The electoral college problem won't go away until Democrats get elected despite losing the popular vote. Then Republicans will attempt another 0106 event again, or if there are any law abiding ones left, they'll try a constitutional amendment.

        • The electoral college problem won't go away until Democrats get elected despite losing the popular vote.

          There is an attempt underway in Arizona to do away with the popular vote for President (or, allow the legislature to substitute their own vote for the popular vote if the plebeians don't vote the "right" way). Why bother with a constitutional change if you can simply override the popular vote?

          • The electoral college problem won't go away until Democrats get elected despite losing the popular vote.

            There is an attempt underway in Arizona to do away with the popular vote for President (or, allow the legislature to substitute their own vote for the popular vote if the plebeians don't vote the "right" way). Why bother with a constitutional change if you can simply override the popular vote?

            It is a fact that Republicans wanted the vote to be by Michael Pence only, and they wanted to hang him until death for not abiding by their demands.

          • Overriding the popular vote was the idea behind the Electoral College in the first place. Now, it's been demonstrated they never will - regardless of how clearly it's warranted - so there's no reason not to get rid of it, except for leaving control over the presidental election in the hands of states.

            As far as that goes, the U.S. hasn't been a federation of independent states for 150 years. It's a single state made up of 50 provinces. The quicker that charade gets dropped, the quicker we can get back to a f

        • The Electoral College isn't a problem. It has actually yielded a result closer to people's votes than the popular vote would have. If you look at the vote breakdown for every Presidential election since 2020:

          Year . D . . R
          2000 48.4% 47.9%
          2004 48.3% 50.7%
          2008 52.9% 45.7%
          2012 51.1% 47.2%
          2016 48.2% 46.1%
          2020 51.3% 46.9%
          Avg. 50.0% 47.4%
          • The Electoral College awarded 3 of these elections to Democrats, 3 to Republicans. 50% / 50%.
          • Popular vote would've awarded 5 of these elections to Democrats, 1 t
          • The Electoral College isn't a problem. It has actually yielded a result closer to people's votes than the popular vote would have. If you look at the vote breakdown for every Presidential election since 2020:

            Some new sort of democracy works by getting second place in the polls. Not surprising since many of those folks ideological leaders support the group that came in second place in the great war of Northern aggression.

          • by sjames ( 1099 )

            If you believe in democracy, 83/17 much better reflects the will of the People.

            Ideally what I would like to see is a system where we eliminate the primaries and just put them all on the ballot for approval voting, runner up becomes VP.

      • by Camel Pilot ( 78781 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @12:16PM (#61009242) Homepage Journal

        The US Constitution spends a lot of hand wringing over the situation of tyranny of the majority - instead, we now have a tyranny of a minority.

        • by hey! ( 33014 )

          That's nothing new. When the Constitution was written, about 1/4 of white men (and *no* women, Indians, or slaves) were qualified to vote.

          A government (not a tyranny, mind you) by a minority was always the intention. What was not the intention, and in fact the Constitution was *supposed* to prevent was the emergence of political parties. That's why the Electoral College exists; the idea of Congress electing the President was floated, but that was feared to be a temptation towards creating permanent part

        • The US Constitution spends a lot of hand wringing over the situation of tyranny of the majority - instead, we now have a tyranny of a minority.

          The tyranny of the minority is real and manifest and the most serious problem in American politics today. And the way the United States has developed under the Constitution, creating many low population states, Congress mandating districts for the House (1846) but no limitations at all on gerrymandering, is what brought us to this point.

          But it is false that the US Constitution frets about the problem of the "tyranny of the majority". It is no where mentioned in it, and only one founding father (John Adams)

      • by Sloppy ( 14984 )

        You're saying a bad election system causes gullibility? Had Trump not been president, the governor of OK wouldn't have fallen for such a scam?

    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      To be fair it was a lot less stupid in April than it would have been in June. There was still a possibility back then that hydroxychloroquine *might* turn out to be an important part of COVID-19 treatment.

      What was stupid was going all-in on chloroquine because the President was promoting it, when several other drugs had shown just as much if not more promise. If they'd secured options on future supplies of the most promising drugs, they'd have avoided the white elephant stockpile and they'd have secured s

    • it's no necessarily the voters fault, seeing as many of them are blocked from voting using a wide variety of tools and tactics.
  • For sale, snake oil, never used.
  • by franzrogar ( 3986783 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @12:02PM (#61009172)

    ...and donate it all to Africa?

    • I think your premise ignores the fact that the governor is, well, the sort of guy who bought this up because Trump said it was a good idea.
      • He’s almost guaranteed to be a bible thumper. Now if he’d actually read it. I’m fairly certain that Jesus would donate the medication to the less fortunate.

        • by jedidiah ( 1196 )

          Says the crowd who is too busy engaging in partisan sniping to suggest this obvious alternative.

    • by Toad-san ( 64810 )

      Most Excellent suggestion! Either that, or import a bunch of African mosquitos to justify having the stuff.

  • Use it! (Score:2, Troll)

    by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 )
    Oklahoma, as one of the states that is beholden to Trump, and has taken their medical and science knowledge from him, needs to stay the course. Only treat with the Trump endorsed drug, and show the world that it works, and God will allow them to reap the rewards of their faith.

    So you bought it, for treating Covid-19, it is only right that you should use it.

    You are stupid people, so buy in haste, repent at leisure. Try bleach and swallowing lightbulbs next time.

  • Why do we care? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by orlanz ( 882574 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @12:09PM (#61009208)

    Why is this news? The only thing news worthy here is that a bunch of states bought a ton of HCQ+Zinc while ignoring the scientific consensus. Some state reps decided to do a bad hedge. We can all review why and how stupid the idea was, etc etc. But it serves no purpose. Some other idiot in the future or even these guys again will do the SAME thing. They will ignore the science or expert advice or and do what they feel is better for their political careers rather than be actual leaders.

  • Give it away? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RyanFenton ( 230700 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @12:10PM (#61009218)

    As far as government waste - it's embarrassing - but it's still quite useful for actual conditions that aren't Covid.

    So, donate it to any medical group that will use it for its proper intended purpose - it's expiration date is soon (1 year, apparently), so it should be distributed and used soon.

    The other tragic side of this misuse of the drug was to increase the price of the hydroxychloroquine - so it's also paying for a mistake for the people affected this way too.

    Oh, and add in a donation to the families of people that died from taking hydroxychloroquine instead of seeking actual treatment - because you also contributed to their deaths with this misuse also.

    Unless you find that the company pushed the product as a cure - then sue them for that, instead of asking for a refund. But I think that was more a Republican framing of the drug, more than the company pushing it as such.

    At the time, it was pushed as a magical fix for the economy - to get people to go to work with no changes for safety - because there was a pill they could take and no need to worry. And it was Trump saying it every day.

    Ryan Fenton

  • Maybe somebody out there can explain how the Oklahoma state government works, but I wouldn't think that the Attorney General's office should be involved in the return of unneeded medications. Isn't this the responsibility for the Health Department or some procurement office?

    Even if the Hydroxychloroguine was purchased under an emergency order, I would think there are processes in Health/Procurement departments for dealing with returning unused/not required products/drugs.

    If it was purchased in an off-

    • They aren't returning some stuff they bought off Amazon, this would have been a major contract and the state is almost certainly trying to shoehorn their reason for return into some clause or the other. There are also regulatory issues around transferring prescription meds around. The AG office would be far better equipped to deal with this.
      • The AG office would be far better equipped to deal with this.

        Really? When I look at the Oklahoma Attorney General's site (https://www.oag.ok.gov/divisions) or at LAWS (https://attorney-general.laws.com/oklahoma-attorney-general) I don't see any indication that the Attorney General has any kind of responsibility for returning purchases other than offering legal advice to the people that do.

  • In a few decades, Oklahoma will be hotter and malaria might be a problem, then.
    • There certainly are other uses for it, especially in Asia, Africa and South America. Donating it to other countries would be good. It even wirks for early treatment of Covid, just not in America...
    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      Anopheles quadrimaculatus (common name "Common Malaria Mosquito") is already endemic in Oklahoma. All it takes is someone with an active infection to get bitten to kick of endemic malaria.

      We think of malaria as an exclusively tropical disease, but our malaria-free status quo is the product of modern sanitation. There are very few areas of the world with a history of heavy human population and no history of malaria. Malaria played a significant role in the history of Rome, England, and of course the south

  • Dark money was pushing hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID. Trump made money from it. It's no different than the spam emails offering miracle cures, except our President and his administration at the time was pushing it. Face it Oklahoma, you got scammed. Trump and the other scam artists are millions richer because of it. Next time, think more carefully before voting...
    • Actually, at time other countries (e.g. India) had studies showing it did some good

    • Trump's financial involvement with HCQ can literally be measured in pennies. HCQ is a generic drug, with a retail cost of under a buck a dose. Trump's "investment" involves small investments in several drug companies, one of which makes HCQ primarily for malaria treatments.

      You're a freaking moron who is trying to politicize medical practice to the detriment of mankind. Yes, you should THINK before voting. And perhaps read something other than DNC talking points.

      • by kqs ( 1038910 )

        You're right. Financially, pushing HCQ made no sense to Trump and anyone claiming that it did was very wrong.

        No, Trump pushed it for a few reasons:
        * He's quite gullible and some hucksters pushed it on Fox and other media.
        * He had clearly screwed up the COVID response, so a solution to COVID (effective or not) could hide his incompetence.
        * He needed the economy to be good for the election, so a solution to COVID (effective or not) would allow him to re-open the e

  • by stikves ( 127823 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @01:22PM (#61009466) Homepage

    Okay, the drug was bought before it was fully tested.

    However we were in an emergency. And $2 million is peanuts if it were to save lives. (Government calculates one human life at $10 million, go figure).

    You tried, they were not necessary, now send them to Africa where they are actually needed.

    • Okay, the drug was bought before it was fully tested.

      However we were in an emergency. And $2 million is peanuts if it were to save lives. (Government calculates one human life at $10 million, go figure).

      You tried, they were not necessary, now send them to Africa where they are actually needed.

      ... then send the $2 million bill to:

      Donald J. Trump Senior,
      Mar-a-Lago, 1100 S Ocean Blvd,
      Palm Beach, FL 33480,
      United States of America.

  • While a lot of people first heard of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) while reading Trump tweets or reading hysterical denunciations of Trump tweets, Trump wasn't the original source. I also follow Elon Musk, who was the first person (that _I_ was aware of) to report on a study done by Italian and French doctors last January. They reported that EARLY treatment of the novel coronavirus with HCQ, "Z-paks" (azythromycin) and vitamin D had been extremely effective in "curing" the Wuhan coronavirus.

    https://mobile.twit [twitter.com]

    • Oops! Last MARCH, not January.

    • by dfghjk ( 711126 ) on Saturday January 30, 2021 @02:34PM (#61009752)

      "...had been extremely effective in "curing" the Wuhan coronavirus."

      No, it didn't. That's a deliberate mischaracterization of the conclusion you linked to, which is:

      "Despite its small sample size our survey shows that hydroxychloroquine treatment is significantly associated with viral load reduction/disappearance in COVID-19 patients and its effect is reinforced by azithromycin."

      No mention of "curing", which you LITERALLY QUOTED and no suggestion of HCQ effecting any cure at all. Also, no mention of "Wuhan coronavirus" which is a dead giveaway of your bad-faith agenda.

      Early data showed a correlation regarding an illness for which there was almost no knowledge. Later data shown HCQ ineffective. You know, kinda how science works.

      "Politics and medicine are a deadly combination, and Andrew Cuomo has often proved."

      Indeed, as the Trump Administration has demonstrated to the entire world.

      "And every doctor that I'm aware of who has tried HCQ, Z-paks and D for EARLY treatment has reported success."

      And who would take the word of someone so transparently dishonest as you? This is something Trump, or SuperKendall, would say.

      • In countries where the treatment was not politicized by extremists, it was used to good effect, but there are better treatments now, such as Ivermectin, which is also an anti parasite drug.
      • Talking about dishonesty...

        When the aggregate of the body of studies shows efficacy for this treatment. Maybe do a little more digging before making a judgement.

        https://c19study.com/ [c19study.com]

        • by kqs ( 1038910 )

          You've posted this a few times. The problem is that a lot of small un-controlled studies showed some small benefit, but all large controlled double-blind studies showed no benefits.

          The problem is that:
          * It's easy to find good results in small uncontrolled studies. People are very good at finding patterns, and without controlling for biases it's hard to avoid those biases.
          * If you find small results in small uncontrolled studies, 99% of the time those results will vanish in co

  • Donate it to some tropical country that has malaria problems regularly and quietly take the loss. Then tell your governor to resign, he's clearly a dumbass.
  • Orange Man also recommended bleach to his followers. How much did Oklahoma buy? Did their citizens consume all of it? How much remains? Will they find other uses for it? Can they get a refund on it?

  • The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office has been tasked with attempting to return a $2 million stockpile of a malaria drug once touted by former President Donald Trump as a way to treat the coronavirus. ... trying to offload the drug back to its original supplier, California-based FFF Enterprises, Inc, a private pharmaceutical wholesaler...

    The Snake Oil -- I mean -- Hydroxychloroquine salesman you listened to is now in Florida, but his carnival is still in DC.

    Utah managed to get a complete refund, so at least someone was thinking ahead.

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