It's really not that extreme since there is a well documented track record of the American government participating in the coverup of certain diseases. Look up the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments on Black men during the mid 20th century. And also see how the US government used the existence of crack (a drug which it enabled) to wage war on Black communities so the President could claim he cared about crime.

It's not a far fetched idea at all. The US government has done a lot worse in the past.