However, these medications were quickly shunned by authorities, who then took steps to prevent the public from obtaining them to treat the virus. Now, the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are being sued for concealing documents related to their suppression of these affordable treatments.

The suit was filed by America First Legal (AFL), a nonprofit organization whose stated aim is to "promote the rule of law in the United States, prevent executive overreach, and ensure due process and equal protection for all Americans."

The group filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last August with both the FDA and HHS seeking information about hydroxychloroquine from 2020. They filed a similar request a month later with the two agencies seeking information about ivermectin in hopes of understanding why government officials suppressed the use of these treatments for COVID-19. In both cases, they received confirmation that the agencies had received their requests, along with tracking numbers. However, neither agency ultimately complied with either of the requests, and the group is now suing them