Vladimir Zelenko, 48, dies; Promoting unfounded Covid treatment
A self-described "simple country doctor", he captured national attention in 2020 when the White House embraced his hydroxychloroquine regimen.
Vladimir Zelenko, a self-proclaimed "simple country doctor" from upstate New York who rose to prominence early in the Covid-19 pandemic 19 when his controversial coronavirus treatment won support from the White House, who died Thursday in Dallas. He was 48.
His wife, Rinat Zelenko, said he died of lung cancer in a hospital where he was receiving treatment.
Until early 2020, Dr. Zelenko, also known by his Hebrew name, Zev, spent his days caring for patients in and around Kiryas Joel, a village in 'about 35,000 Hasidic Jews about an hour northwest of New York City.
Like many healthcare providers, he struggled when the coronavirus began to appear in his community. Within weeks, he had landed on what he considered an effective cure: a three-drug cocktail consisting of the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine, the antibiotic azithromycin, and zinc sulfate.
He was not the first doctor to promote hydroxychloroquine. But it began to gain national attention on March 21 – two days after President Donald J. Trump first mentioned the drug during a press briefing – when Dr. Zelenko posted a video on YouTube and Facebook in which he claimed a 100% success rate with the treatment. He implored Mr. Trump to adopt him.
A day later, Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump's chief of staff, contacted Dr. Zelenko for more information. Just like talk show bookers. Over the next week, Dr. Zelenko made the rounds in conservative media, speaking on podcasts hosted by Steve Bannon and Rudolph W. Giuliani. Fox News' Sean Hannity touted his research during an interview with Vice President Mike Pence.
"At the time, it was a brand new discovery , and I saw her as a commander on the battlefield," Dr. Zelenko told The New York Times. "I realized I had to talk to the five-star general."
On March 28, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency clearance for doctors to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and another antimalarial drug, chloroquine, to treat Covid. Mr. Trump called the treatment of "very effective" and perhaps "the greatest game changer in the history of medicine".
But, like other medical professionals health began to point out, Dr. Zelenko had only his own anecdotal evidence to support his case, and the little research that had been done painted a mixed picture.
>Yet he became something of a folk hero on the right, someone who not only offered hope amid the pandemic, but also an alternative to the establishment doctor and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who insisted that months of research would be needed to find an effective treatment.
Dr. Zelenko continued to text and speak with Mr. Meadows, Mr. Giuliani and several members of Congress. But he clashed with leaders at Kiryas Joel, who said his speech about treating hundreds of Covid patients gave the impression that the community was overwhelmed by Covid, potentially fueling anti-Semitism.
Over the following months, researchers cast further doubt on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found no benefit from the treatment, and other studies pointed to a risk of dangerous cardiac arrhythmias in some patients.
These results and others directed the F.D.A. to revoke its emergency authorization on June 15, 2020.
Who...
A self-described "simple country doctor", he captured national attention in 2020 when the White House embraced his hydroxychloroquine regimen.
Vladimir Zelenko, a self-proclaimed "simple country doctor" from upstate New York who rose to prominence early in the Covid-19 pandemic 19 when his controversial coronavirus treatment won support from the White House, who died Thursday in Dallas. He was 48.
His wife, Rinat Zelenko, said he died of lung cancer in a hospital where he was receiving treatment.
Until early 2020, Dr. Zelenko, also known by his Hebrew name, Zev, spent his days caring for patients in and around Kiryas Joel, a village in 'about 35,000 Hasidic Jews about an hour northwest of New York City.
Like many healthcare providers, he struggled when the coronavirus began to appear in his community. Within weeks, he had landed on what he considered an effective cure: a three-drug cocktail consisting of the antimalarial hydroxychloroquine, the antibiotic azithromycin, and zinc sulfate.
He was not the first doctor to promote hydroxychloroquine. But it began to gain national attention on March 21 – two days after President Donald J. Trump first mentioned the drug during a press briefing – when Dr. Zelenko posted a video on YouTube and Facebook in which he claimed a 100% success rate with the treatment. He implored Mr. Trump to adopt him.
A day later, Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump's chief of staff, contacted Dr. Zelenko for more information. Just like talk show bookers. Over the next week, Dr. Zelenko made the rounds in conservative media, speaking on podcasts hosted by Steve Bannon and Rudolph W. Giuliani. Fox News' Sean Hannity touted his research during an interview with Vice President Mike Pence.
"At the time, it was a brand new discovery , and I saw her as a commander on the battlefield," Dr. Zelenko told The New York Times. "I realized I had to talk to the five-star general."
On March 28, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency clearance for doctors to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and another antimalarial drug, chloroquine, to treat Covid. Mr. Trump called the treatment of "very effective" and perhaps "the greatest game changer in the history of medicine".
But, like other medical professionals health began to point out, Dr. Zelenko had only his own anecdotal evidence to support his case, and the little research that had been done painted a mixed picture.
>Yet he became something of a folk hero on the right, someone who not only offered hope amid the pandemic, but also an alternative to the establishment doctor and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who insisted that months of research would be needed to find an effective treatment.
Dr. Zelenko continued to text and speak with Mr. Meadows, Mr. Giuliani and several members of Congress. But he clashed with leaders at Kiryas Joel, who said his speech about treating hundreds of Covid patients gave the impression that the community was overwhelmed by Covid, potentially fueling anti-Semitism.
Over the following months, researchers cast further doubt on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found no benefit from the treatment, and other studies pointed to a risk of dangerous cardiac arrhythmias in some patients.
These results and others directed the F.D.A. to revoke its emergency authorization on June 15, 2020.
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