Trump's Embrace of Unproven Drugs to Treat Coronavirus Defies Science

[spanone]

Doctors and patients also worry that the president’s rosy outlook for the treatments will exacerbate shortages of old malaria drugs relied on by patients with lupus and other debilitating conditions.

At a long-winded White House briefing on Friday, President Trump enthusiastically and repeatedly promoted the promise of two long-used malaria drugs that are still unproven against the coronavirus, but being tested in clinical trials.

“I’m a smart guy,” he said, while acknowledging he couldn’t predict the drugs would work. “I feel good about it. And we’re going to see. You’re going to see soon enough.”

But the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, delicately — yet forcefully — pushed back from the same stage, explaining that there was only anecdotal evidence that the drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, may be effective.

“The president feels optimistic about something, has feelings about it,” said Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, emphasizing that he was a scientist. “I am saying it may be effective.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/health/coronavirus-chloroquine-trump.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

[BKDem]

1. How does the President feel about the cures Jim Baaker and Alex Jones are selling?

Donald is a smart guy. He should give us the benefit of his thinking, and take a small cut of the action.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. trump literally defies reality. how could such malevolence form?

[spanone]

3. kind of what I expected from a birther and science denier.

[The Genealogist]

4. He defies lots of things

Logic, truth, decency....

He has no idea what he is talking about, and no idea how to manage this crisis. He seems to mostly use his "pressers" as substitutes for his Bund rallies he can't hold right now.

[GusBob]

5. I figured out why Trump is being so pissy

Not only are his golf courses going under

He cant go golfing

[Richard D]

6. No coincidence . . .

. . . Fox news did an extended piece on those two drugs before trump announced them.

[greymattermom]

7. There are a lot of clinical trials to test existing drugs.

My hope is that one or more will work. If the need for respirators can be reduced, that would help a lot.