In mid-March, President Donald Trump personally pressed US federal health officials to make malaria drugs available to treat the novel coronavirus, though they had been untested for Covid-19, two sources told Reuters.

The episode reveals how the president’s efforts could change the nature of drug oversight, a field long governed by strict rules of science and testing. Rarely, if ever, has a US president lobbied regulators and health officials to focus their efforts on specific unproven drugs.

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