A New York doctor who rose to prominence for promoting a controversial drug cocktail as a weapon against the coronavirus announced that he is leaving the community where he treated mostly Hasidic Jewish clients for about two decades.
Dr. Vladimir “Zev” Zelenko — who promoted the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, combined with azithromycin and zinc sulfate — practiced in Monroe, near the Hasidic enclave of Kiryas Joel, according to reports.
In a video shared in Orthodox circles on Whatsapp, Zelenko said he has decided to step away from the community, according to the Forward.
“It’s with a broken heart that I have to say this, but I have decided to leave Monroe after almost two decades of working as a doctor, taking care of the community, most recently with this terrible magefah,” Zelenko said, using the Hebrew word for plague.
Zelenko said he made the decision after speaking with his family and religious advisers — “and thinking about what I want for the future, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to move on.”
The announcement comes after community leaders accused the doctor of spreading misinformation about the rate of coronavirus infection in Kiryas Joel, prompting discrimination against residents, according to The Times of Israel.
Zelenko is also being investigated by a Baltimore federal prosecutor over his inaccurate claim that a study of the drugs he touted had won FDA approval, the outlet reported.
In a New York Times interview early this month, Zelenko claimed that sloppy wording was to blame for that statement.
“I’m a clinician, not a researcher,” he said. “I don’t fully understand the language of clinical research.”
In March, Zelenko claimed in a YouTube video that he had recently successfully treated 350 patients showing early signs of the coronavirus using the drug cocktail in his office.
He claimed the $20 treatment had “100 percent” success among patients in Monsey, where he also practiced.
“If anyone has any political influence, please make noise because we need the political status to change and these medications to be used without obstruction,” Zelenko said.
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