New York Health Commissioner Defends Use of COVID-19 Drug Cocktail at State-Run Veterans Nursing Home
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Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
New York’s chief physician deflected blame and side-stepped questions Thursday about the state’s handling of the pandemic in nursing homes — including queries about use of an unproven COVID-19 treatment administered at a state-run nursing home in Queens.
Dr. Howard Zucker provided the fullest state response yet to a report by THE CITY, Columbia Journalism Investigations and Type Investigations that found at least 62 residents of the New York State Veterans’ Home at St. Albans were given hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin last spring — despite risks documented by federal authorities yearsbefore the pandemic.