OK Attorney General announces deal to return state's Hydroxychloroquine stockpile

Well, let's take a look at what we've got:

• In January, Attorney General Mike Hunter filed a petition in district court for over $1.8 million over a personal protective equipment order that a company never delivered to the Oklahoma Department of Health.
• In April, AG Hunter filed a lawsuit against a company for failing to deliver an order of ventilators to the Oklahoma State Department of Health at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. In the lawsuit, the state claims the OSDH paid over $890,000 for 40 ventilators last April. The company had only delivered two ventilators by June 2020. Despite canceling the order in October, the company had 21 ventilators delivered in December. The Oklahoma State Department of Health returned the wrongfully delivered ventilators but has not received a refund.

And here we learn that the OSDH is getting a refund for returning $2.6 million worth of hydroxychloroquine that was purchased during the well-intentioned but seemingly misguided Trump-fueled craze for the drug last spring.

Attorney General Hunter Strikes Deal to Return Hydroxychloroquine Stockpile

OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General Mike Hunter today announced he has reached an agreement with FFF Enterprises to return the state’s stockpile of hydroxychloroquine for a refund.

Based on the unique circumstances encountered by the Oklahoma Department of Health, the company has agreed to return to the Department of Health the full purchase price paid for the medication last year.

The Oklahoma State Health Department purchased hydroxychloroquine at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic ​after the federal Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the drug as a treatment for the virus.

After ​the federal Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization, the Oklahoma State Health Department asked the attorney general to get involved.

Attorney General Hunter said he appreciates the company’s willingness to work with the state.

“I commend the leadership at FFF Enterprises who worked with us to return the state’s supply of hydroxychloroquine while giving the state a refund,” Attorney General Hunter said. “They recognized we were in competition with every other state in the nation to get whatever we could to protect Oklahomans. When it was determined the drug wasn’t effective in combatting the virus, they did the right thing by refunding our money. FFF is the type of company that Oklahoma likes to do business with, and we appreciate their partnership.”

FFF Enterprises is a private pharmaceutical wholesaler based in California.

Read the agreement here.