SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Now, as the state of New York continues to see an increase in cases of COVID-19, we now know clinical trials began this week for an experimental drug treatment that is underway. Joining us now with an update -- he's been doing some of the greatest work. The great Dr. Oz is back with us. We're talking about hydroxychloroquine. Your show now is must-watch TV. You're interviewing patients. You're interviewing doctors. You're talking to people all around the world. You've looked at all the studies. What are you seeing and how confident are you in the anecdotal evidence, because we can't have a clinical trial except in real time that this is working for those people that are using it.
DR. MEHMET OZ: Well, as a governor told me yesterday on the show, when you march into battle, you march with the army you have. So, the anecdotal evidence is all we have to go with. I've kicked the tires as best I can. I interviewed the actual physician who did the French study. I spoke to colleagues of mine in China about what they're actually doing and they do have clinical trials because they have a big experience with coronavirus. And, again, these were anecdotal reports, but they're meaningful because they seem to add up to general idea that if you give chloroquine -- hydroxychloroquine -- early in the course of an illness, it seems to impact on it. But we don't know for sure until we do the actual double-blind study.
So, it's interestingly, in New York, this study is starting. The governor just today said you're not allowed to get the drug unless either you have a existing condition that the FDA approves already for it -- for example, rheumatoid arthritis or malaria -- or if you're part of a clinical trial. So, it's one way of pushing people into clinical trials. And there's another trial that's also been green-lit in New York. It's the plasma idea, which I want to share for two seconds. We barely got it yesterday. By the way, behind the scenes, you should all know this, Dr. Hannity is peppering me with basic science papers, very sophisticated summaries that he keeps on top of.
HANNITY: Oh man. Oh man. You're so mean. You're my friend and you're mean.
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HANNITY: Thirty seconds, in all of the -- with all the doctors you've spoken to, all the patients that have tried hydroxychloroquine and [azithromycin], have you seen any side effects or any instances where it has not worked?
OZ: People who it didn't work for probably wouldn't call me, so I don't want to bias that. But I've not seen big side effects. No one's complained about anything meaningful and all the people I've spoke to so far felt that it might have helped a little bit or it definitely helped a lot. So, that's where we live. But the good news is, in New York, we're going to figure it out because there are clinical trials ongoing. So, one day, we'll know.