House Democrats are investigating whether President Donald Trump's endorsement of a Johnson & Johnson antidepressant was caused by outside influences for personal financial gain, ProPublica reported.
Trump has endorsed J&J's drug, Spravato, as a treatment to prevent veterans from dying by suicide. Spravato was approved by the FDA last year to treat depression and is a nasal spray form of the drug esketamine.
But the drug has been criticized by experts because of questionable clinical trial results. In one trial, six people taking the drug died, three by suicide. No deaths took place in the placebo group, according to ProPublica.
The clinical benefits of the drug have been questioned by experts, as it barely met the FDA's threshold for being statistically significant, ProPublica reported.
The FDA put restrictions on Spravato because of the risk of severe adverse outcomes and the "potential for abuse and misuse." The restrictions require a health professional to monitor a patient for two hours after taking the drug.
Chairmen of the House Veterans Affairs and Oversight committees are now investigating whether three unofficial Veterans Affairs advisers told the president to endorse the drug because they had a financial stake in it. The Democrats are seeking any communications the men had with J&J and any financial records that may show if they had any stake in the company, ProPublica reported.
The president gave the three men — Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, physician Bruce Moskowitz, MD, and lawyer Marc Sherman — "sweeping influence" over Veterans Affairs decisions despite the fact that none of them had any military or government experience, according to ProPublica.
The Government Accountability Office is conducting a separate investigation into the three unofficial VA advisers, according to ProPublica.
A spokesperson representing the three men told ProPublica they had no role in the VA's consideration of Spravato and that they're reviewing the Democrats' requests for documents.
"Our volunteer activity was motivated solely by a desire to see America’s veterans get the best possible care from the VA. We had no authority over decision-making, rather we offered advice for VA leadership to accept or reject as they saw fit. We did not seek or receive any personal or financial gain," the men told ProPublica.
A J&J spokesperson told ProPublica: "Our interactions with the VA and other payers regarding coverage of Spravato has followed all laws, procedures and ethical standards."
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