The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Trump prompts fresh criticism with claims of taking malaria drug
US president upbeat – despite warnings from scientists of serious side effects
Donald Trump’s widely-criticised admission that he is taking a malaria drug to try to protect against coronavirus “should be ignored”, a former chief scientific adviser has urged.
Sir David King said the US president is “making it up as he goes along” after Mr Trump said he is using hydroxychloroquine, despite there being no evidence it combats Covid-19.
Mr Trump’s own government warns that the drug should only be administered for coronavirus in a hospital or research environment because it has potentially fatal side effects.
But Sir David, a Cambridge University professor who advised the UK Government under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, was clear on what he thought of Mr Trump’s approach to science.
“I think he speaks from the top of his head and every word he says should be ignored in terms of advice,” Sir David told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“I’m sorry but this is not the pronouncements of a person who is listening to the scientists. He is making it up as he goes along.”
Downing Street stressed that taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus was “not something we recommend doing”.
Mr Trump, who previously was ridiculed for suggesting disinfectant could be injected into the body to treat coronavirus, made his latest shock statement after some in the White House tested positive for Covid-19.
Despite saying he has had “zero symptoms”, he told reporters he had been taking hydroxychloroquine “for about a week and a half now” after requesting it from a doctor.
“I started taking it, because I think it’s good,” the 73-year-old president said. “I’ve heard a lot of good stories.”
Meanwhile, there is no evidence to support a conspiracy theory, backed by Mr Trump, which suggests coronavirus was created in a Chinese laboratory, an expert has said.
Professor David Robertson told the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee: “You have a virus that you think comes from an exotic species and then you have a wildlife market – that seems the most parsimonious explanation.”
I think he speaks from the top of his head and every word he says should be ignored in terms of advice. SIR DAVID KING