Hydroxychloroquine is once again being touted as a treatment for COVID-19, and this time by a Houston-based doctor who believes face masks won’t curb transmission of the virus.
Dr. Stella Immanuel has become an internet sensation, pulling in tens of millions of views on a Facebook video on Monday, recorded by Breitbart. The Daily Beast reports that she and a handful of doctors, who call themselves America’s Frontline Doctors, appeared in Washington, D.C. at the “White Coat Summit,” where they argued against the medical consensus on coronavirus. The right-wing group Tea Party Patriots held the event, which was supported by wealthy Republican donors.
In her speech, Immanuel claimed she’s used hydroxychloroquine to successfully treat hundreds of patients, a drug that Donald Trump cosigned during the virus’ early days, which he took himself (though he later stopped). Hydroxychloroquine has proven to not be beneficial in treating COVID; in June, the FDA invalidated its emergency authorization so it could no longer be prescribed for the virus.
“Nobody needs to get sick,” Immanuel said in her speech. “This virus has a cure.”
Immanuel alleged that we don’t need face masks because we have hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, also claiming she and her staff have fended off the virus by wearing medical masks, rather than the more protective N95 masks. It seems Immanuel’s speech might have gone on too long: in the video, the event organizer and participants have to pull her from the microphone.
The Trumps openly endorsed her video, with the president retweeting the clip and Donald Trump Jr. calling it a “must watch." Later, “demon sperm” began trending on Twitter. Facebook and Twitter eventually deleted the videos of her speech for spreading false information about the virus.
Immanuel responded by saying Jesus Christ would dismantle Facebook’s servers if her videos and profile page weren’t restored on the site.
In another video, posted to Twitter, Immanuel demanded to test urine from CNN hosts and Dr. Anthony Fauci so she can see if they’ve been secretly taking hydroxychloroquine, even while they urge the public not to take it.
She also tweeted to Trump, letting him know she’s available to meet.
Immanuel—who is both a pediatrician and religious minister—has made off-the-wall medical claims in the past. She’s alleged that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are the result of people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches. She's also alleged that alien DNA is used in medical treatments and that scientists are working on a vaccine to stop people from being religious. Even though she lobbied the government this week, she has said parts of it are run by “reptilians” and other aliens.
Immanuel is a registered physician in Texas and runs a medical clinic next to her church, Firepower Ministries, both of which are located in a strip mall. She was born in Cameroon and attended medical school in Nigeria.
In a GoFundMe legal defense fund, she claimed a Houston networking group for women physicians was trying to take her medical license away due to her promoting hydroxychloroquine, though it’s unclear if that’s true. The GoFundMe campaign has been removed.
Twitter, of course, had a lot to say.
