Dr. Oz has ties to hydroxychloroquine companies as he backs Covid

Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz has financial ties to at least two pharmaceutical companies that supply hydroxychloroquine, 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 along with his wife at least $615,000 in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific, according to his financial disclosure. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s website lists hydroxychloroquine sulfate as one of its available products. It is unclear when Oz and his wife bought the stock, or whether they owned it as Oz promoted hydroxychloroquine as a Covid treatment early in the pandemic.

Oz and his wife also own between $15,001 and $50,000 in McKesson Corporation stock, according to the disclosure. The company labels and distributes hydroxychloroquine sulfate, according to the FDA. It is also unclear when they bought McKesson stock.

Hydroxychloroquine sulfate is the anti-malaria drug commonly known as hydroxychloroquine, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Doctors around the country, in part boosted by endorsements from former President Donald Trump and conservative media figures, have offered the medication to patients as a Covid treatment despite its questionable efficacy against the virus.

Oz’s financial ties to a producer and distributor of the drug, and his promotion of it as a potential Covid treatment, raise questions about what he stood to gain from its wider use during the pandemic. If he wins the Senate election, he could also face conflicts of interest as Congress grapples with a still evolving coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement responding to CNBC questions about Oz’s relationships with companies that make or distribute hydroxychloroquine, including when he and his wife bought the Thermo Fisher Scientific stock, Oz campaign spokeswoman Brittany Yanick did not address the candidate’s financial holdings.

“At the outset of the pandemic, Dr. Mehmet Oz spoke with health experts worldwide who were seeing hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as viable treatment options for desperately ill COVID patients. He offered to fund the clinical trial at Columbia University,” she said.

The FDA has approved hydroxychloroquine to fight malaria, but warned it has “not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19.”

Oz took bold steps early in the pandemic to promote its usage as a treatment. He urged Trump administration officials in 2020 to back a study he aimed to fund at the Columbia University Medical Center about the effect of hydroxychloroquine on Covid-19 patients, according to emails obtained and released by the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis.

Oz also has ties to third company that says it divested hydroxychloroquine from their U.S. portfolio.

Sanofi, which is headquartered in France and previously made hydroxychloroquine, for years supported Oz’s…