Captain Clorox Lies; the Media Buys
Responding to publicity from a now-discredited French study, the Food and Drug Administration has warned against using hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 patients outside of hospitals or clinical trials, citing a risk of heart problems.
Clinical trial results, academic research and scientific analysis indicate a significantly increased risk of death for certain patients. Scant evidence on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in treating covid-19 hasn’t been able to be replicated.
Trump and his friends at Fox News have promoted the drug as a safe and effective treatment for the novel coronavirus for over two months.
From the New York Times:
Trump has publicly embraced hydroxychloroquine as a “game changer” in the fight against the virus, and his endorsement, amplified by Fox News hosts like Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, caused a run on the drug, making it scarce for those who took it for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, for which it is regularly prescribed.
In April, Trump said he was considering taking the drug himself. But the president has notably stopped promoting it in recent weeks, and Fox News hosts have also cut back on their references to the drug. However, he then suggested at a news conference that injecting disinfectants into the human body could help combat the virus, causing confused callers to flood state health hotlines and the makers of Clorox and Lysol to plead with Americans not to inject or ingest their products.
His announcement on Monday came less than a month after the FDA issued a safety warning about the drug, noting that it could cause dangerous abnormalities in heart rhythm in coronavirus patients and should not be used outside clinical trials or in hospitals where patients were closely monitored for heart problems.
Monday he doubled down, amid a factually challenged rant aimed at whistleblower Rick Bright, saying he had been taking one pill a day for more than a week despite showing no symptoms.
“All I can tell you is so far I seem to be OK,” Trump said, adding that he has been taking the drug for about a week and a half, with the approval of the White House physician. “I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy,” Trump continued, adding: “What do you have to lose?”
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1262481173793521664?s=20
The President of the United States has no filter, and will say just about anything if he feels challenged. There legions of reporters, administration officials, and even Congressional allies will admit to this, though it’s always got to be “off the record,” lest they be the target of the next Oval Office tantrum.
Soledad O’Brien gets it right:
https://twitter.com/soledadobrien/status/1262510889556742144?s=20
Knowing just how hinky the President’s claim sounded, the White House released a letter from his physician saying... ...nothing.
The letter did not say he had prescribed the drug. It did not say he recommended the drug. It only said that it had been discussed with the President. It makes no mention of other medicines - zinc and azithromycin - Trump said he is taking
The context of the President’s remarks gives insight into a motive for telling such a big whopper.
His latest trigger was the 60 Minutes appearance of Dr. Wright, who says he was dismissed from his role overseeing US vaccine development after resisting pressure from above to endorse the unproven drug.
Trump’s rant included a claim that Bright was somehow for the drug before he was against it.
The doctor was pressured to sign an authorization allowing the drug to be donated to US stockpiles; as additional admonitions to advocate for the drug occurred, he decided to try to follow established legal procedures for making his opposition known. For playing by the rules, Dr. Bright was removed from his position.
And the President just about begged reporters to find proof that the immunologist and public health official was a donor to Democratic Party causes. An initial search of Federal Election Commission records finds no mention of a donor to any campaigns by that name employed by the federal government.
One other thing. The President said he was taking one pill a day.
The dose (until shown that it wasn't effective) had been recommended for COVID Treatment/prophylaxis was 200mg twice a day for 5 days. ie more than one pill a day.
While much of the conversation about the side effects of hydroxychloroquine has focused on its potential for creating heart problems, this finding in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is particularly concerning:.
The drugs also cause a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric manifestations, including agitation, insomnia, confusion, mania, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, catatonia, psychosis, and suicidal ideation. Stopping the drug could lead to resolution, but symptoms may not quickly resolve.
https://twitter.com/xeni/status/1262589717226217472?s=20
Back to the conclusion of the Times article, as published in today’s Union-Tribune:
Trump has never provided the public with a full picture of his own health. In 2018, the White House physician reported that Trump had an LDL cholesterol level of 143, well above the desired level of 100 or less. Some cardiologists who are not associated with the White House said his cholesterol levels raised heart concerns.
Neil Cavuto, a Fox News host, reacted to the president’s announcement with a grim warning that once might have shocked his viewers. To anyone with pre-existing conditions, he said: “It will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you.”
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One other thing. Take all this “news” about a potential vaccine with a big grain of salt.
As National Geographic pointed out, the news is encouraging, but there is this:
But while public officials and news reports were quick to cite this as a record-breaking development, the biotechnology underlying this drug has existed for nearly 30 years, and it has never yielded a working vaccine for any human disease.
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Yeah, I know. Fat shaming is bad. So are all the names Trump calls people.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1262551042257907713?s=20
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