Fox News host
Tucker Carlson and Dr. Marc Siegel, a medical contributor with the popular cable network, discussed the possibility that Viagra could be a viable treatment for COVID-19, citing an anecdotal example and a study out of Chile.
British tabloids
The Sun and
The Daily Mail first reported the story of 37-year-old nurse Monica Almeida
in the United Kingdom, who was on the verge of death and in a coma after contracting COVID-19 before she was given an experimental treatment that included a large dose of Viagra. While her family had been told to say their goodbyes and she was set to be taken off the ventilator keeping her alive, she recovered and now credits
the erectile dysfunction drug for saving her life.
"Well, amazingly there appear to be growing connections between Viagra and treatment for the coronavirus," Carlson said
in a segment of his Fox News show on Friday. He cited the story of the nurse in the U.K. and brought on Siegel, who is a professor of medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center, to discuss the treatment.