I can’t take it anymore. I’ve been to The Hague. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow. Today’s press conference was...
I can’t take it anymore. I’ve been to The Hague. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow. Today’s press conference was the last straw. I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one. https://t.co/XQin24gqY4— Rep. Tavia Galonski (@RepGalonski) April 6, 2020
Ohio state Rep. Tavia Galonski (D) said that she will make a “referral for crimes against humanity” over President Trump’s promotion of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the novel coronavirus, despite its unproven benefits and lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
“I can’t take it anymore. I’ve been to The Hague. I’m making a referral for crimes against humanity tomorrow,” Galonski tweeted late Sunday.
“Today’s press conference was the last straw," Galonski added. "I know the need for a prosecution referral when I see one.”
Galonski, who represents the Akron area, told the Ohio Capital Journal on Sunday that she had "no idea” how she would go about such a referral.
“How hard can it be?” Galonski, a former magistrate in the Summit Count Common Pleas Court added.
Trump has repeatedly promoted hydroxychloroquine, which is approved to treat conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, as a potential treatment for the coronavirus, which the FDA said last week has led to a shortage of the drug.
At a press briefing late Sunday, the president recommended the drug despite limited evidence of its efficacy in treating the virus, saying, "What do you have to lose? I’m not looking at it one way or another. But we want to get out of this. If it does work, it would be a shame if we didn’t do it early."
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci has reportedly been at odds with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro about promoting hydroxychloroquine and said Sunday that its benefits remain largely unknown.
"The data are really just at best suggestive. There have been cases that show there may be an effect, and there are others to show there's no effect," Fauci said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "So I think in terms of science, I don't think we could definitively say it works."
Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton has asked residents of the state not to seek hydroxychloroquine prescriptions unless they have a medical need. The state Board of Pharmacy has also implemented an emergency rule restricting access to the drug after a wave of stockpiling by Ohioans following Trump’s comments.
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