CVS mistakenly sent inaccurate information to its staff about how to protect against the coronavirus, a company spokesperson confirmed to CNN Business.
An email sent March 16 to staff by CVS Chief Medical Officer Troy Brennan reportedly told staff that drinking warm water is an effective way to protect against the coronavirus, because it "washes the virus into your stomach, where it is killed."
Robert Legare Atmar, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN there is no evidence that this is an effective way to protect against the virus.
The idea that warm water could protect against the virus has reportedly been circulating online for the last week, falsely attributed to a member of the board at Stanford Hospital in California. A spokesperson for Stanford Health Care told CNN the misinformation is "dangerous" and isn't affiliated with Stanford Medicine.
The CVS spokesperson did not say how the false information ended up in the staff email, but said a new version of the memo with corrected information has been posted to the company's intranet. Team managers have been notified of the update, and a companywide morning email directed people to the updated memo, the spokesperson told CNN.
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