Dr. Oz owns stock in companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug he pushed the White House to use as unproven COVID treatment

Mehmet Oz owns shares in two companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that he urged the White House to push as a treatment for COVID-19.

CNBC reported that he owned stock in the companies. The document showed that Oz and his wife owned a stake in a company that sells hydroxychloroquine.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, Oz and his wife owned between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of shares in the company.

It is not known when Oz and his wife bought the shares. A person for Oz's campaign did not respond immediately.

In a statement shared with CNBC, Oz campaign spokeswoman Brittany Yanick did not address the stocks but said that Dr. Mehmet Oz spoke with health experts around the world who were seeing hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as viable treatment options for desperately ill COVID patients. The clinical trial was offered to him.

Hydroxychloroquine is an FDA approved anti-malaria medicine. Numerous studies have shown that the drug is not effective in treating COVID-19, despite being pushed by former President Donald Trump. The World Health Organization recommends against using it to treat COVID-19.

In the early days of the Pandemic, Oz, a Republican running for a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania, sent emails to senior White House advisers promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine. The Select House Committee on the coronaviruses crisis made public the emails.

According to the report, Oz sent emails in March 2020 to two people, one of which was the son-in-law of the president. The effectiveness of the drug against COVID-19 had not been determined.

The French microbiologist who said he had success with the drug but whose tests were not randomized or peer-reviewed was cited by Oz.

Oz wrote in the email that they couldn't hide behind study protocols if they weren't allowed to go.

"I want to push brave Americans to join trials on my show tomorrow, but cannot without a game plan for accessing drugs," he said, adding he would personally recruit patients and pay for a trial.

Oz is running for Senate against John Fetterman, who criticized his opponent for pushing the drug.