He’s not Dr. Trump; ignore his medical assertions

President Donald Trump wants to provide Americans with the most optimistic view possible at his press briefings. (Others might call it bizarre, even delusional.)

Whatever you choose to believe, however, when it comes to medical information or drug treatment, do … not … listen to Trump. He is most definitely not a doctor. He only, occasionally, plays one on TV.

If fact, do not listen to anyone who isn’t one of the nationally recognized experts leading the COVID-19 fight, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Now a Valley man has died and his wife is seriously ill because they tried to mix up their own anti-coronavirus medication based on some of the stuff they’d heard on TV.

The couple are in their 60s. They took a chemical called chloroquine phosphate, an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks. It was days after a news conference in which Trump spoke about chloroquine as possible a COVID-19 therapy.

The woman, whose husband died, told NBC News they mixed their own concoction because, “We were afraid of getting sick.”

She said within 20 minutes of taking the chemical they were “dizzy and hot.”

Then she said, “I started vomiting. My husband started developing respiratory problems and wanted to hold my hand.”

Now, to the rest of us, she says, “Be careful and call your doctor. This is a heartache I’ll never get over.”

Trump has been talking about chloroquine.

At a news briefing he said it showed “very, very encouraging early results” and said “we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately.”

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn tried to tamp down the president’s enthusiasm, saying the drug would be available “in the setting of a clinical trial — a large, pragmatic clinical trial — to actually gather that information and answer the question that needs to be answered and — asked and answered.”

Trump said, “It may work, it may not work. I feel good about it. That’s all it is. Just a feeling.”

He also said that he’d like to start relaxing social distancing requirements by Easter. That would be midApril, right around the time the medical experts expect Arizona’s coronavirus cases to be peaking, a situation that could stretch into May. Or beyond.

The president’s “feeling” is not science. It could get people killed.

As Dr. Fauci said, “You’ve got to be realistic. And you’ve got to understand that you don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”