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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUtah Was Really Into Trump's Miracle Cure. Now It Wants Its Money Back.
Last edited Sun Apr 26, 2020, 03:28 PM - Edit history (1)
STEPHANIE MENCIMER
Senior Reporter
Utah residents may be lukewarm on President Donald Trumpthe president leads Democrat Joe Biden there by only five points, a shocking number in such a reliably red statebut Utah has proven to be an enthusiastic booster of Trumps favorite coronavirus miracle cure, the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. On March 21, a group of drug promoters in the state held a press conference to advocate for its use to treat Covid-19, claiming it could practically raise the dead, despite the fact that theres no evidence that it works, and plenty of evidence that it can be dangerous to some people.
There are responses that are equivalent to Lazarusliterally the biblical Lazaruspeople almost dead coming back, physician Kurt Hegmann, director of the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Utah, said at the event.
Ten days later, the state spent $800,000 to purchase 20,000 doses from a local pharmacy chain, Meds in Motion, whose owner had been promoting the drug to state officials for weeks. The state legislature planned to set aside $8 million to buy 200,000 more doses to distribute free of charge to anyone diagnosed with COVID-19. Experts warned that the purchase was a waste of money given that the drug hasnt been proven to work in treating the disease.
Eight million dollars for pharmaceuticals is a lot of money in a state that ranks dead last in per-pupil public school spending and spent most of the last decade refusing to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, even after state residents passed a ballot initiative demanding the expansion.
https://www.motherjones.com/coronavirus-updates/2020/04/utah-was-really-into-trumps-miracle-cure-now-it-wants-its-money-back/
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Nonetheless, Utah officials moved forward, urged on by state Senate President Stuart Adams, who had appeared at the March press conference with Richards and the other drug promoters. But on Friday, after the FDA warned against negative impacts of the drug, Governor Gary Herbert announced that the state would not purchase any more hydroxychloroquine. He claimed to have no idea how the first batch got procured by his administration, which issued the no-bid contract under emergency procurement rules enacted because of the pandemic.
The 20,000 pills havent yet been delivered to the state health department, so Herbert suggested that the state should get a refund. Thatd be nice if they just said, you know, we had a miscommunication here and were apologizing and heres your money back, he said at a news conference Friday.
And you folks trust a CON................... ................have you talked to Romney lately, after all he voted 50% of the time to during the Impeachment process have him removed, but kept him in power on the other charge, or that other asshole senator, that thought party over country is more important.........................next up Lysol and UV lighting for you at a discount........ ...and now they also have Blood On There Hands .............
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Utah,and just say,what the hell.
Utah has a history of upper Respiratory Health issues to start with . With zero air quality monitoring as well as mitigation,just what could go wrong down the road.
sfstaxprep
(9,998 posts)Thoughts & Prayers. Maybe they'll get their money back. LOL!!!
lindysalsagal
(20,684 posts)Leave it to eh xtians and the effing gop. Grifters, ALL!!!!!!
Journeyman
(15,031 posts)and needs it to control her RA.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)and other fools stampeding to buy as much as possible, I am having difficulty in getting her prescription refilled.
While I would like to see those fools get burned on their purchases, my wife needs for them to return their purchases to relieve the shortage in the legit medical market.
mercuryblues
(14,531 posts)This was a great opportunity to fleece tax dollars. Pretty sure the contract will be cancelled; minus a 25% "restocking" fee.
keithbvadu2
(36,803 posts)"no idea how the first batch got procured by his administration" - His administration.
Plausible deniability is not an option, Guv.
NCjack
(10,279 posts)Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)per pill. Even worse, the pills they bought will no longer work on malaria and other illnesses because they added zinc to them. Some major corruption going on in Utah. The republican crime family has put grifting in overdrive during a national emergency.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/04/26/robert-gehrke-not-only/