The president has found himself buried up to his neck in controversy about a dangerous drug he claims he is taking as a preventative against the coronavirus. Hydroxychloroquine is currently used for some individuals with Lupus and to prevent malaria. However, it can not be taken outside of a hospital or research setting.
Donald Trump announced on Monday he had been taking the drug for about a week and a half. That was approximately when his military valet tested positive for COVID-19. His top aide Stephen Miller’s new wife also tested positive for the virus, too. She works in Vice President Pence’s office.
The president said Monday that he was taking the medication, which he claimed could help people prevent being infected with the news coronavirus.
According to The Guardian, a reporter asked:
‘The FDA warned that hydroxychloroquine could cause serious side effects. Why do you promote the use of this drug when you’re not a doctor?’
Trump replied:
‘Well, I have worked with doctors. If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey they were giving it to people in bad shape, they were very old, almost dead. It was a Trump enemy statement.’
He was referring to research that went back into the medical records of 368 veterans treated against the virus at the VA with the drug. No benefit was discovered.
Trump claimed that the people who did the study did not like him. Instead, he insisted many medical workers were in favor of the drug. His statement has not been found to be accurate. The president continued:
‘If it was somebody else other than me, people would say, gee, isn’t it smart?’
Physicians in China and in France claimed that hydroxychloroquine, combined with the antibiotic azithromycin (Z-Pak) appeared to help their patients. However, those studies were too small to be accurate. In addition, the control groups were not handled appropriately, according to The New York Times.
The French study has since been discredited by the journal where it was published, because it did not meet the journal’s scientific panels’ standards.
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