Mehmet Oz has financial ties to at least two pharmaceutical companies that sell an anti-malaria drug that he has floated as a possible Covid-19 treatment.
Oz, a physician and veteran television show host who is facing Democrat John Fetterman in the race for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat, owns at least $615,000 in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific. Hydroxychloroquine sulfate is one of the products listed on the website. It's not clear when Oz and his wife bought the stock, or if they owned it as Oz promoted hydroxychloroquine as a Covid treatment early in the Pandemic.
Oz and his wife own between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in the company. According to the FDA, the company distributes Hydroxychloroquine sulfate. They don't know when they bought the stock.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, Hydroxychloroquine sulfate is a drug used to treat Malaria. Despite its questionable efficacy against the virus, doctors around the country have offered the medication to patients as a Covid treatment.
Oz has ties to the producer and distributor of the drug, and his promotion of it as a potential Covid treatment raises questions about what he would gain from its wider use during the Pandemic. He could face conflicts of interest if he is elected to the Senate.
Oz campaign spokeswoman Brittany Yanick did not address the candidate's financial holdings when she responded to CNBC questions about Oz's relationships with companies that make or distribute Hydroxychloroquine.
Dr. Mehmet Oz spoke with health experts around the world who were showing hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as viable treatment options for COVID patients. She said that he offered to pay for the trial.
Hydroxychloroquine has been approved by the FDA to fight Malaria, but it has not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19.
Oz was the first to promote its use as a treatment. Emails obtained and released by the House select subcommittee on the coronaviruses crisis show that he tried to get the Trump administration to back a study about the effects of chloroquine on Covid-19 patients.
The third company that Oz has ties to says it removed hydroxychloroquine from their portfolio.
According to the group's annual disclosure reports, Oz's nonprofit, HealthCorps, was supported for years by the French company, which used to make hydroxychloroquine. The Oz-funded group, which promotes itself as aiming to help teens with their health and wellbeing, was listed as either a sponsor or in-kind supporter by the pharmaceutical company. One of the group's "school sponsors" is the pharma company. A school sponsor needs to give $100,000 to be eligible.
100 million doses of hydroxychloroquine will be given to 50 countries around the world as studies assess the drug's effectiveness in treating Covid-19.
A spokesman for the company told CNBC that there was no involvement with the comments made by Oz. He said that the drug hydroxychloroquine was removed from the U.S. portfolio by the company in order to investigate its use as a way to fight the Covid epidemic. The company stopped working on it once it was found to be useless against Covid-19.
The spokesman said that the last financial contribution was made in 2011. In a follow up email to CNBC, the company representative said that the last year that the company gave a financial donation was 2013).
The Republican could have issues with Oz if he wins the Senate seat. In an email to CNBC, Kedric Payne, an ethics attorney at the Campaign Legal Center, said that if Oz were to defeat Fetterman, he could choose to sell his businesses.
Payne said that ethics rules could prevent him from promoting any goods or services that would benefit him. IfOz were to be elected, he could stop promoting anything related to his stock.
A spokesman for the company wouldn't say anything. A representative for the company did not reply before publication.
Oz has downplayed warnings by the FDA and other experts against using hydroxychloroquine as a Covid treatment. The drug was criticized as a way to fight Covid because of his political animus against Trump, who endorsed the drug as a treatment.
We should have known by now if it works or not, because we have not been able to prove it. The problem is that we don't. After I mentioned it, President Trump mentioned it in a press conference, and everyone hated it without knowing about it.
Oz supported Hydroxychloroquine before he started his campaign. During a Fox News interview in March 2020 at the height of the epidemic, Oz said that chloroquine plays a role. Oz was being interviewed about the anti-malaria drug and it was on the screen.
Oz sought the White House's help in getting the hydroxychloroquine study started, as he was once the vice chair of the surgery department. The study never got off the ground, according to him.
The communications with White House officials were released by the House select subcommittee. In a March 2020 email, Oz said he would pay for the trial himself.
According to the correspondence obtained and made public by the House committee, Oz told Trump's son in law and advisor that completion of the study should be a national priority. On the same day, Oz asked what he should do to speed it up.
According to the New York Post, Oz spent $8,800 on tablets for the study and offered $250,000.
Oz blamed Cuomo for the halt of the study after he banned the anti-malaria drug as a Covid treatment.
One of the contests that will decide which party controls the Senate next year is the Pennsylvania race and Oz's financial ties could become a bigger issue if he wins. Fetterman leads Oz by 7 percentage points.
There is increased scrutiny of stock ownership in congress. Lawmakers would need to put their assets in a blind trust if they wanted to ban stock trades in Congress.
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, also known as the STOCK Act, has been violated by at least 71 lawmakers. The law was passed to stop members of Congress from trading on their inside knowledge.
Members of Congress have not faced consequences for their stock trades.
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