President Donald Trump’s media and partisan critics were quick to pile on when the President suggested at a press conference last Thursday that an inexpensive and widely available drug – first approved for the treatment of Malaria and some forms of arthritis in 1949 – might prove useful in treating those infected by the Coronavirus or, as we are now supposed to call it, Covid-19. In doing so they were quick to point out that his own experts, Dr. Anthony Fauci and FDA Commissioner Stephan Hahn seemed to disagree with him.
But did they? When asked by a Fox News reporter if the drug, chloroquine, could prevent one from infection, Fauci responded bluntly. “The answer is no,“ he said, “And the evidence … is anecdotal evidence, so as the commissioner of FDA and the President mentioned yesterday, we’re trying to strike a balance between making something with a potential of an effect to the American people available, at the same time we do it under the auspices of a protocol that would give us information to determine if it’s truly safe and truly effective, but the information that you’re referring to specifically is anecdotal; it was not done in a controlled clinical trial, so you really can’t make any.”
The media and Trump’s critics, excited by the possibility they could claim the President wrongly cited Fauci. But the President never claimed either 1) that he could be sure the drug would work and 2) certainly didn’t claim it would work as a vaccine. What he did say was that other nations are prescribing it for those who have contracted the virus because it seems to shorten their hospital stays and ameliorate the worst symptoms. If that’s true, making it widely available could potentially lessen the expected over-crowding of existing medical facilities, keep some who contract the virus out of the hospital and hasten their recovery. That would be, as the President suggested, “very good news.”
But the New York Times, among others, used Fauci’s comments to attack Trump in a series of news reports. One headline “Trump’s Embrace of Unproven Drugs to Treat Coronavirus Defies Science.” This in spite of the fact that numerous countries that are dispensing the drug now are reporting precisely the reports that the president referred to in his remarks. Those countries include China, Australia, Norway, Britain, South Korea and Belgium.
What Fauci and Hahn were saying was that this country insists on long and expensive testing before any drug is made available to the public or allowed to be prescribed for what are known as “off label” uses. Thus, while other countries can move forward with a promising treatment that has been proven safe for other uses, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – while promising to speed things up or, as the President is demanding, “cut the red tape,” – may well continue to insist on extensive testing and new trials before approving its use to alleviate the suffering of infected American. Typically such tests cost millions and can take months or years to complete which is why treatment for other conditions available elsewhere are often denied to Americans.
Sometimes these requirements make sense … and sometimes they do not. This is one of those times. If the pandemic is a global pandemic then Americans should have access to the same treatment available elsewhere … The New York Times and the Food and Drug Administration’s bureaucrats notwithstanding.
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What’s with Fauci and his morbid reluctance to allow us to Try – that HydroxyChloroquine and pak to make up the cocktail is working 100% as has been said.
Why would Daniel Dae Kim (of Hawaii Five O) who came down with the Wuhan Virus one day and lambasted Trump for not allowing him to Try the drug, did get the cocktail and the day after his tirade against Trump he was praising HCQ b/c he is on the road to recovery?
What Daniel has done is make Fauci out to be a fraud which the man probably isn’t after all but he is putting up an obstruction and that is unacceptable – I mean just how far does he think he’s supposed to go to show allegiance to Obama and not American Citizens who’re represented by Trump anyway ! – His Trump Derangement Syndrome has no place.
There’s something weird about Fauci, of course he’s an Obama holdover but REALLY it’s time for him to put MEDICINE first or else get off the platform and let Dr. Birx in to lead that team who is also an Obama holdover but has been putting her medicine for America First.
You are being just a bit ( Large ) too hard on the good Doctor.
He is a perfectionist as you would certainly prefer any Doctor operating on YOU to be….accurate, precise and certain of his decision.
So, and with that said, our President was doing his “Non-Doctor” best to give the folks some good news…and he did it,,
all the while expressing caution and reservations….Give Pres. Trump a break and lighten up just a bit. Is it really so impossible for anyone to wonder EXACTLY how they might deal with this nightmare if it were theirs to do?
Except in this case there is no EXACT until so many have contracted it or have died from it which forms a pattern. Then the tests rules from before were so restrictive we could have lost millions. Fauci appears to have been strictly adhering to those rules and maybe a bit too cautious.
Especially in this case where the virus is an unknown. He seems to have been adverse to some risk.
I agree with your perspective, Wylie! It’s proven to be a success — already tested in other places, evidently with recovered patients as proof that it works. So what’s the harm? Or perhaps give the patient the choice, rather than just saying no you can’t because the five year testing period isn’t finished!! As for the stern Fauci, perhaps he could at the very least, say the same thing in a way that it doesn’t appear to be in total conflict with what President! Trump is saying.
Take the drug without the test and die..youre family will scream so loud and angry thete were no tests done to prove the drug was safe…am I right????
GUESS YOU DID NOT READ
WHERE HE IS A PART OF THE SWAMP AND JUST LOVES KILLERY! TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT SOME PICTURES HE HAS HAS TAKEN STANDING BEHIND OUR PRES. PURE HATRED! KNOW ITS OUT, LOVE LETTERS SENT THREW HER SHIELDS. AND HEARD HE WAS ASKED TO LEAVE!
The fact that they allowed a terrorist be President Obama is an illegal alien. Democrats do not work for the American people just like the media. They help illegal aliens why else they keep making sure our country looks like a third world county. They will never stop they have an agenda. We already be dead if Hillary had won. Here in California they have illegal aliens working as public servants. American citizens are invisible here they do not even allow us to vote. California is huge we used to have 5thousand places to vote now only 950 poll places. There is not a day we are not being attacked. It is digusting and very disturbing.
Very disturbing and so very true..im in the IE and were getting overrun also
This was not a contradiction. These drugs are for treatment as Trump said. This is NOT for prevention as Dr Fauci said. Fake news article. Geez
Dr, Fauci is not wrong, only following the law. Many times medicine is given off use. That is how Viagra was discovered, as well as monoxidel for hair growth. In these cases it was a side effect
As I understand it Doctors are permitted to prescribe any drug they think will work for “off label use” and some do regularly, but Dr Fauci, like any good bureaucrat, is following FDA regulation. In an ideal world the FDA standard is the gold standard utilizing one of the most pure forms of scientific methodology. Recently the world is coming across as a lot less than ideal in my humble opinion, so I side with President Trump in seeking to do whatever works.
Retired Scientist
Trump is trying to follow suit with other countries that have tried Chloroquine and are seeing positive results. Dr. Fauchi is a virus expert/scientist and wants to see more testing to make sure it works with no serious side effects or worse. However, there should be some compromise where you can do both and from what I heard they are doing some human testing as we speak. So the Democrats and never Trumpers need to stop the political posturing and let them do their jobs. Also Nancy Pelosi needs to resign and let congress move forward with the stimulus bill so people can survive this virus pandemic.
Ex Vet & Patriot
Amen
Listen Ronald we need to cut out the political bullshit and get a handle on this thing so what the law is or it isn’t Trump is trying to get the right thing done and the liberals that fear fake news and the control the liberal governors are loving during this time . I am amazed they have used racism and stupid pc crap through this . The fact of the matter is let the good people get this thing fixed and keep the rest out of it
Typical of Doctors who don’t know enough to come in out of the rain. Somehow they think if a drug doesn’t go through “clinical trials” it can’t be good. Despite over 70 years of effective use and hundreds of patients providing anecdotal proof that it does. And let’s say it only is effective for 50% of those who have contracted the disease, what have we got to lose? We could at least be curing those who can be cured, reducing the numbers who can infect others.
Exactly.
It’s been widely used and has shown good results. Clinical Trials? Women don’t seem to mind that “Birth Control” can cause Heart Problems, Blood Clots, Stroke, and stuff like that, so how’s this going to be any worse than that?
The DEMOCRAPS & the media are a freaking
Joke!!
Especially when President Tump says and does things that are totally accurate.
It totally gets the left bent out o shape!!!!!!!!!
New Article XLXX: From this point on no employees of the New York Times or Washington Post are allowed to take any of the recommended anti-viral drugs recommended by President Trump. They shall only be able to eat tree bark.
Good, hope they all get sick as shit. Maybe they will wake their ass up ..and quit spreading all this fear and bullshit
Chlorquine is made from the bark of the quinoa tree, so that would be good. Since
Trump made his uneducated statement the price of the drug has already quintupled. That;s the American way, “gouge wherever possible for a profit.” Somebody in big pharma knew something last year because it was being withheld as a “shortage” since last November.
You ignorant nut case Vladilych, Bring your Russian stupidity back to Russia. The pharmaceutical companies are responsible for price gouging, not Trump. Keep watching fake news and stay stuck on stupid. You goofy bastard.
And go outside at night to scream at the moon. Or whatever alien spaceship is flying by.
We need roving Death Squads just like they had in South America to go after the Media.
the effects of the anti-parasitic chloroquine on the human body have been known since 1949. we took it and quinine in vietnam with no side effects. malaria and the corona viruses have one thing in common – both are parasites.
since there are no serious side affects after 71 years what is the problem if it targets parasites? and the fact is that chloroquine is listed by the cdc as a treatment for covid 19 (v). with no side effects as compared to the other drugs.
Hmmmm, if it gets rid of parasites, do you think it would be effective against Democrat politicians?
Since when does science matter to democrats and the lying media? They deny real science that says there is only two sexes and try to brain wash people into believing there are multiple sexes.
I personally would like for reporters to submit their questions in writing and President Trump read their name and question and answer it. The media is a very big distraction for the people 5to hear and understand what our President is saying. In these times we don’t need or want anymore distractions
It’s been know a long time the FDA has been very slow in moving to approve a drug that is well know to work in other countries. There are drugs and treatments in France for certain cancers that are still not approved in the US. Those drugs were being used 20 years ago or more and are still not being used here. Why is that? It is to control who gets it and who doesn’t. It is to make as much money from it as possible since it cost a lot to have the drugs tested. The longer they do the tests and delay it the more money big pharma makes. They need to get their heads and hearts out of there wallets and help people. Two big ways to control population growth, abortion and disease.
The MSM isn’t news anymore. Just another propaganda machine for the left like all good communist rags. if the drug has been proven to work on one there is no reason not to allow others to try it and CDC be damned.
Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malaria drug, but I’ve been prescribed to take it as an off-label remedy for a condition called “Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Autoimmune Disease.” I hope a run on this drug it doesn’t make it difficult to get my next refill.
The drug also has some serious side effects, such as a Black Box Warning to not prescribe certain antibiotics (one for H. Pylori) due to severe respiratory depression. I said I’d just stop taking the hydroxychloroquine so I could get treated for H. Pylori, but the doctor said the stuff stays in your body for six months! Also, the drug can destroy your retinas, so one must have a retina specialist map your retinas with 3-D imagery once at the start of treatment and again every six months thereafter to be sure it isn’t causing blindness.
It seems that all the side effects have emerged, so the rigorous safety tests have been done. All they need to do is gain empirical evidence that the drug benefits those afflicted with the WuFlu, or, “Boomer Remover,” as my teenaged daughter calls it.
Force a vote on the stimulus package. Have all five Republicans in quarantine show up dressed in protective gear, masks, suits and all. Let them vote , then if vote fails to pass, suggest they take off protective clothing, and then hug the Democrats to prove they harbor no ill feelings or resentment. But, suggest they (democrats), might want to take another vote, and prove they want America to survive!
These guys use their same science with false claims of global warming and the myth that we evolved from pond scum 12 billion years ago.
Where is Louis Pastuer when you need him? He made most of his discoveries 1860`s For most of you snow flakes that are going pass the bong and don`t know. He used Galileo`s way of looking at the moon inward to look at microbes. He is still working for you with every glass of milk you drink. Pasteurization. He developed the cure for rabies. He was kicked out of Paris, France
and then turned around to help the rabinous Russians. Now here is a Nobel Peace Prize winner not a chisling bull scheit artist like Obama. It appears we have something like that going on now. 1825-1895 a biologist-chemist. Louis Pastuer a white man.
Here we go: how many farmers do you know who: has caught the virus? has died of the virus? ( with NO other ailments).
NONE. Why? Because us, the earth workers, tilling the ground to plant for food, milk the cows who eat the grass of the land, work with horses who graze in the pastures and who clean the stalls, picking up the manure, us, we have been breathing that virus and many more all our lives and have been immunized against most of them.
Where do those viri come from? The earth. They live on earth and MAN HAS NEVER CREATED ONE. Man can only find them, and study them, and find the good or bad those viri will do. Man will WEAPONIZE the worst of the viri to CONTROL.
President Trump is right to call it:” CHINESE VIRUS”. ( Although it is everywhere on earth).
Because china wants to take over the world, and RAPE the world for its own. Just as the islamists want to take over and do as china wants to do: create a ONE WORLD TYRANNY.