Dr Trump putting lives at risk again
DR Donald Trump is back at it again – using his gut instinct to take a pill to ward off coronavirus.
Weeks after his White House cronies and TV sycophants began backing off his cheerleading of an anti-malaria drug as a potential treatment for Covid-19, the President has now gone further.
This time Trump, who says he acts on hunches, is putting his mouth where his money is.
Despite being warned hydroxychloroquine is unproven and can be fatal to those classed as “morbidly obese” he has been popping the pill every day for about a week-and-a-half, adding, “I’m still here”.
He said: “Here’s my evidence. I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy, and I say, ‘Hey, you know the expression I’ve used... what do you have to lose?’”
Despite his glowing endorsement while standing alongside two top public health officials, they declined to endorse their boss’ call for widely administering the pill.
Trump though, who has a financial interest in the makers of the drug, suggested he was speaking on gut instinct while acknowledging he had no expertise on the subject.
However, his “natural instinct for science”, not from formal training mind but because his late uncle was a scientist, in his world leaves him perfectly qualified to dispense medical advice. So much so, that despite his Covid team’s warnings, he saw his administration make sure thousands of coronavirus patients were treated with hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin because his gut told him the drug cocktail would be a “phenomenal game-changer”.
He said the drug is “being tested now,” adding “there are some very strong, powerful signs” of its potential. Trump is convinced hydroxychloroquine is the treatment the world needs.
Spurred on by his own scientific research that he has not succumbed to the virus while taking the drug is the only proof needed it works.
He has concluded, based on his study population of one, hydroxychloroquine prevents Covid-19 100% of the time. Sadly, evidence suggests it can cause heart problems and worsening death rates.
Two large studies of patients in New York found the drug was virtually useless against the virus. Others have indicated it could make people more susceptible to Covid-19 while placing others, such as those grossly overweight, at risk of death.
The reports led to the “stable genius” briefly laying off his push to use hydroxychloroquine.
Instead, he touted a new miracle cure suggesting injecting the lungs with disinfectants along with huge doses of heat and ultraviolet light.
Noting that bleach kills the virus “in a minute” on surfaces, Trump asked his doctors: “Is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside?
“Or almost a cleaning? It would be interesting to check that.”
But after his lung-bleaching idea was ridiculed worldwide as some of his most stupid followers drank shots of Domestos he has chosen to return to hydroxychloroquine with a vengeance.
Trump’s stunning admission he was dosing up on the drug is in direct conflict with the findings of medical science and is a staggering development given his position.
His medical choices and the risks he chooses to take are his business.
But he is the President. His promotion of unfounded, possibly lethal use of drugs sends a worrying message not just to Americans but to all those stupid enough to still believe in his madness.