As President Trump touts the efficacy of an antimalarial drug that could help defeat the coronavirus, a Democratic state lawmaker in Ohio is threatening to refer him to the International Court of Justice.
On Sunday, Ohio state Rep. Tavia Galonski warned that she has visited the court and would be charging the president with “crimes against humanity” after his repeated advocacy of the drug hydroxychloroquine as a method of treating the COVID-19 virus.
“I can’t take it anymore,” Galonski tweeted. “I’ve been to The Hauge. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow. Today’s press conference was the last straw. I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one.”
I can’t take it anymore. I’ve been to The Hague. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow. Today’s press conference was the last straw. I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one. https://t.co/XQin24gqY4
— Rep. Tavia Galonski (@RepGalonski) April 6, 2020
Trump has repeatedly promoted the drug, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, as an effective method to treat the flu-like illness which has been linked to the deaths of 10,000 U.S. citizens.
The debate over whether hydroxychloroquine should be prescribed to infected patients has boiled over into a weeklong confrontation between the Trump administration, members of the White House coronavirus task force, and state governors, some of who have flip-flopped on the treatment.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro reportedly feuded over the drug during a meeting over the weekend. Fauci has urged caution over claims the drug could cure the disease, saying reports touting hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness are anecdotal and should not be seen as evidence of a cure.
“The data are really just at best suggestive. There have been cases that show there may be an effect, and there are others to show there’s no effect,” Fauci said during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation. “So I think in terms of science, I don’t think we could definitively say it works.”
Navarro told CNN’s New Day on Monday he would like a “second opinion.”
In another prominent standoff in early April, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer overturned her own directive against hydroxychloroquine which threatened “administrative action” against any medical professional who prescribed the medicine to treat patients with COVID-19.
