Editor’s note: The Frontier is looking back at some of its most memorable stories of the past decade as it counts down to its 10th anniversary celebration 6 p.m. April 29 at the Tulsa Central Library.
During the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, the state spent $2 million to stockpile hydroxychloroquine.
About a year later, Frontier Executive Editor Dylan Goforth learned that the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office had been quietly tasked with trying to return the drugs.
Goforth said he’d made a mental note to follow up on the purchase, as he thought it was important that state officials answer for decisions made during the pandemic. The reporting process wasn’t complicated, and Goforth said it took him about an hour to write the story.
“I went home and then looked at the website that night, and was like, ‘What’s going on with the website? Why is it so busy?’ I had no idea, but that story had just gone massively viral,” Goforth said.
The story rapidly gained national media attention and was the topic of a spoof commercial promoting Oklahoma tourism on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
In early 2020, people around the world were desperate for a cure for COVID-19, a new virus spreading quickly.
While scientists and doctors searched for answers, President Donald Trump began promoting hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria and lupus, as an effective response to COVID-19. Backing the drug soon became something of a conservative loyalty test, said Goforth.
A few months after Gov. Kevin Stitt announced the hydroxychloroquine purchase, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked an emergency use authorization for the drug, writing that it was “unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19.”
State records obtained by Oklahoma Watch indicate that the state entered into an agreement in April 2021 outlining the return of the drugs to FFF Enterprises, the private company that sold the medicine. The agreement states that “the state of Oklahoma is no longer interested in owning or possessing the products purchased” and is seeking a full refund. FFF Enterprises agreed to pay the state through five equal payments for all products in good condition.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health told The Frontier in March that the settlement is now complete and the agency has been repaid.
Every story The Frontier published during the pandemic was written with the goal of accountability, Goforth said.
“I think that being in a newsroom that intentionally takes the time to keep track of things like that is important because that’s the job of journalism and that’s what we’re all doing,” he said. “And that was kind of our part in that COVID story was keeping track of those types of purchases and outcomes.”
