HOUSTON — A Houston woman, Dr. Stella Immanuel, has made national news, thanks to claims she's made about the coronavirus.
"There's a cure for the COVID(-19), it's called hydroxychloroquine," she has said.
She has also questioned the efficacy of masks -- something the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said can "slow the spread of COVID-19."
"You don't need masks," Immanuel has said. "There's a cure."
THE FIRST CLAIM
Let's look at Immanuel's first false claim: That hydroxychloroquine is a cure for COVID-19.
WHAT WE FOUND
Our sources for this are infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"Now we have multiple studies that show hydroxychloroquine has no proven benefit for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19," Hotez said.
The FDA has revoked the emergency use of the drug to treat coronavirus patients, citing that risks outweighed benefits of the drug and could lead to "serious cardiac adverse events."
THE ANSWER
We can VERIFY that Immanuel's claim is false: There is no cure for COVID-19.
THE SECOND CLAIM
Next Immanuel falsely claimed "you don't need masks."
WHAT WE FOUND
Our source here is the CDC.
Per CDC guidelines, masks are a "barrier to prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air when we cough, sneeze or talk." The CDC and World Health Organization recommend wearing masks anytime out in public when social distancing is not possible. Texas has a mask mandate in place when out in public.
THE ANSWER
We can VERIFY that Immanuel's claim on masks is false: Masks help prevent the spread of the virus.
PRESIDENT TRUMP AND DR. IMMANUEL
Both of these false claims were retweeted by President Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr.
Both Twitter and Facebook deleted Immanuel's video from their platforms.
"I thought her voice was an important voice but I know nothing about her," Trump said.
IS DR. IMMANUEL A LICENSED DOCTOR?
Our source for this is the Texas Medical Board, whose records show Immanuel has an active license with specialties in pediatrics and emergency medicine.
She practices out of a clinic off Highway 6 near Katy. The same strip mall is also home to Fire Power Ministries, a Christian ministry that she also runs.
So we can VERIFY that Immanuel is a real doctor.
She does, however, have a history of outrageous claims, including that doctors make medicine from alien DNA.
Many of her coronavirus-related videos have been taken off social media.
In response, Immanuel has demanded that Facebook repost them, threatening that Jesus will take down Facebook if they don't.
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