August 27, 2020

August 27, 2020

Countdown 68 Day Election

California 38 days until early voting

TRUMP’S OBSESSION    California 38 days until early voting

Trump will do anything to be reelected.  Trump knows the corona virus and the response has been less than stellar.  His snake oil shows sans the medical professionals are an attempt to show he is on top of the pandemic.  He has moved off the stage and the media Dr. Fauci and Dr. Brix, after all they have the facts.  The medical professionals have always had the best interest of the public have been above being affected by any political desires.. The latest unproven therapeutic use of the plasma therapy was brought out as a miracle cure by Trump as being a game changer. 

This miracle cure was emphasized by his pitch man at the Snake Oil rollout event for convalescent plasma therapy.  Stephen Hann the head of the FDA had succumbed to the lunacy of this president by saying an unfounded and baseless statistic that not only misleading but was also a potentially dangerous statement. 

Stephen Hann, at the rollout hoopla event for the emergency declaration he said that 35 people out of 100 would survive the coronavirus if they were treated with plasma.  The decision to move along the therapy using the emergency declaration was made hastily. 

The decision was based on the Mayo Clinic collecting data gathered from hospitals around the country using the therapy in different ways.  There was also no comparison to groups of those who were untreated in the same facility, this causes speculation and caution when using any conclusions can be drawn about survival rates.  The data did show a possible 3-5% benefit from the plasma in recovery time and potential mortality reductions, however nothing like the 35%.

The 35% lie was repeated by Alex Azar HHS Secretary at Sunday’s briefing and promoted on twitter.  The number did not appear in the written justification for the emergency declaration.

The findings did conclude that “People who received plasma with the highest levels of antibodies fared better than those given plasma with fewer antibodies, and those treated sooner after diagnosis fared better than those treated later.” 

An Obama former official FDA Dr. Peter Lurie said “It’s extraordinary to me that a person involved in clinical trials could make that mistake.” Dr. Lurie currently leads the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. He went on to say “I think within the agency his credibility is massively reduced as a result.” 

Stephen Hann gave a mea culpa for his statement which said “I have been criticized for my remarks I made on Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma.  The criticism is entirely justified. What I should have said the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction.”

In response to suggestions that Hann was promoting the plasma therapy as a stunt timed to correspond to the convention Hann said: “The professionals and the scientists at FDA independently made this decision, and I completely support them” he said on “CBS This Morning”

Hann did not correct the President when he claimed the regulatory move was a “breakthrough” nor did he correct the president’s assertion that the “deep state” is slowing down the vaccine approvals.

Problems arise out of the plasma emergency authorization.  The broadened access to the drug therapy undercuts clinical trials which are trying to determine if the drug is actually effective and what doses are most beneficial for recovery.

Comments are closed.