When it comes to showing off sheer ineptitude, it seems like the only person who can outdo Donald Trump is the man himself. The President of the United States is clearly out of his depth with the Covid-19 outbreak and this could not be better illustrated than when he endorsed a drug which he claimed would pretty much cure the novel coronavirus, in spite of the fact that it’s not even FDA approved.
President Trump on Hydroxychloroquine: "It's been around for a long time, so we know if things don't go as planned it's not going to kill anybody…It's shown very, very encouraging early results, and we're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately." pic.twitter.com/Q7C8dk7gnd
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 19, 2020
The drug in question, chloroquine, is a decades old malaria drug that China used to treat patients in the early stages of the outbreak. After first recommending the drug in guidelines issued to healthcare professionals back in February, China rolled back its usage just days later, warning about the drug’s lethal side effects.
It turns out that the drug is actually lethal when dosed at twice the daily recommended amount for treatment. To further put things in perspective, the recommended dosage is a mere 1 gram, which means that all it takes to kill an adult is 2 grams.
This week, a couple from Arizona who had heard the president endorse the drug in one of his conferences tried to self medicate with it after discovering that they had a version of chloroquine phosphate at home, and both fell sick almost immediately. The man, aged 68 could not be resuscitated but his wife managed to throw up most of the chemical and is currently in critical care.
You see, chloroquine phosphate also happens to be a common additive used to clean fish tanks. Speaking from her hospital bed to Vaughn Hillyard of NBC news, the woman revealed that Trump’s press conference where he endorsed the drug “was on a lot” on TV and that she had found some at home because she used to have koi fish.
NBC: Did you see the President's press conference? Where did you hear about–
Patient: Yeah. Yeah, we saw his press conference. It was on a lot, actually.
NBC: And then did you did you seek out Chloroquine?
Patient: I had it in the house because I used to have koi fish. https://t.co/C8EiTQQ3r1 pic.twitter.com/QgmElANCEG
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) March 24, 2020
When asked about what her message to the American public would be, she had this to say:
Woman in ICU: "Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure."
NBC: "What would be your message to the American public?"
Woman: "Oh my God. Don't take anything. Don't believe anything. Don’t believe anything that the President says & his people…call your doctor." https://t.co/C8EiTQQ3r1 pic.twitter.com/UAOXBNsS4t— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) March 24, 2020
And people aren’t just falling ill in the US. Nigeria reported two cases of chloroquine poisoning after Trump’s press conference. Nigerian health officials actually had to warn all Nigerians against self-medicating after demand for the drug surged in Lagos.
Its worth noting that the drug isn’t deadly in the right dosage, but Trump’s careless attribution of the chemical as the solution to the Covid-19 crisis is just down right careless. Add to that the fact that he downplayed warnings from the top immunologist in the country and already has plans to restart the American economy by easing up on social distancing and you have real cause for concern here.
