A Houston doctor infamous for pushing the unproven drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 has been reprimanded by the Texas Medical Board, which took a “corrective action” against her last month. Dr. Stella Immanuel must from now on submit proof of informed patient consent for all of her off-label treatments. She will also be fined $500, in a board decision that is considered “non-disciplinary.”
Immanuel previously told the Houston Chronicle that she had treated “hundreds” of patients with the hydroxychloroquine “cure,” long hyping a drug that has been a pandemic favorite on the far right. She came to national attention last summer when she touted the potency of the drug—which has been shown to have, at best, no meaningful effect on coronavirus patients—on the steps of the Supreme Court. She is also known as a preacher at a church, Fire Power Ministries, housed at a strip mall next to her clinic. Her sermons run the gamut from discourses on alien DNA to claims about diseases caused by having dream-sex with witches and demons.