( Reuters) – Dr. Eric Anderson had just completed vacuuming his New Hampshire house early on Wednesday when the phone in his pocket buzzed with an unusual text.
FILE PHOTO: Researchers at the University of Minnesota Genomics Center established an automated liquid handler as researchers start a trial to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the seriousness of the coronavirus illness (COVID-19), at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. March 19,2020 REUTERS/Craig Lassig/File Photo
The message – part of a barrage of texts sent to physicians throughout the country – advised him to sign a petition in assistance of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug promoted by President Donald Trump as a prospective wonder cure for COVID-19, the infectious and sometimes lethal respiratory disease triggered by the new coronavirus.
” Inform Trump to CUT BUREAUCRACY & make hydroxychloroquine offered to you and your patients,” the message stated.
Anderson was disturbed.
Despite Tr