Donald Trump told all and sundry that he has been taking a drug called hydroxychloroquine – “every day” – for about a week and a half. The 73-year-old president proudly told reporters on Monday how the anti-malaria drug has helped shield him from being infected by Coronavirus, despite public health officials warning it may be unsafe.

 

To the surprise of the reporters, Trump revealed – “I’m taking it for about a week and a half now and I’m still here, I’m still here. You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers before you catch it, the frontline workers, many, many are taking it. I happen to be taking it. I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this.”

 

When asked for evidence that hydroxychloroquine actually works, the U.S. president claimed – “Here’s my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it. I’m not going to get hurt by it. It’s been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus, for other things. I want the people of this nation to feel good. There is a very good chance this has an impact. I’m telling you, so far I seem O.K.”

However, Trump also revealed that he has taken a single dose daily of Azithromycin, an antibiotic commonly known as a “Z-Pak” used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections, as well as a daily round of zinc supplement. Research shows that zinc supplement may enhance immune function, stabilize blood sugar levels, and help keep your skin, eyes, and heart healthy.

 

Yet, the president could not explain why the Covid-19 has infiltrated the White House. When President Trump’s personal valet and Vice President Pence’s press secretary – Katie Miller – were tested positive for the virus, it raised questions that the most powerful and secure building is vulnerable and could threaten the national security of the United States.

 

There’s one problem with Trump’s bizarre eagerness in promoting hydroxychloroquine drug, as if they are vitamin supplements. Last month (April), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning against the use of chloroquine or the derivative drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19, stating the drugs have not been shown to be safe and effective.

In addition, the FDA warned of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with Covid-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, often in combination with Azithromycin (the exact antibiotic that Trump is taking) and other QT prolonging medicines. The FDA has only authorised the temporary use of the drugs during the current pandemic for treatment of hospitalized patients.

 

Therefore, the FDA warned against the use of the medication outside hospitals, which is precisely what President Trump is doing now. Scientists, including one of Trump’s top medical advisers, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has publicly discouraged the use of the anti-malaria drug against the Coronavirus.

 

Trump claims he had consulted with the White House doctor and suggested he takes the drug as a preventive measure. Sean Conley, the physician to the president, released a memo on Monday that said after discussions with Trump “for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks.”

However, the memo neither said whether the doctor had actually prescribed the drug to the president nor verifies if Trump is taking it. But the White House doctor confirmed that the president receives regular Covid-19 testing, and so far, has tested negative and has no symptoms. Trump probably can toy around with the drugs because he only suffers from obesity and high cholesterol.

 

It’s disturbing that Trump excessively promotes the anti-malaria drug – “And it seems to have an impact – and maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t – but if it doesn’t, you’re not going to get sick or die. This is a pill that’s been used for a long time for 30, 40 years on the malaria and or lupus, and even with arthritis, I guess. So it’s been heavily tested. What do you have to lose?”

 

This is not the first time the narcissist Donald Trump recklessly and irresponsibly promotes the drug to fellow Americans. He first began recommending the drug in mid-March, leading to a rush for the pills among hospitals, doctors and people who wanted to use it as a preventive. The problem starts when people blindly and ignorantly take the drug as if they’re some kind of miracle vaccine.

In March, A 68-year-old man in Arizona has died and his 61-year-old wife was in critical condition after drinking a small amount of a chloroquine phosphate product in hopes of preventing Coronavirus infection, thanks to Trump’s great marketing pitch. The woman told NBC News – “We were afraid of getting sick.” So, the couple each mixed 1 teaspoon of the chloroquine phosphate with soda.

 

But instead of chloroquine phosphate in “drug form”, the couple ingested a chloroquine phosphate product that’s used to treat parasites in fish. The woman apparently recognized the name “chloroquine” when she heard Trump say it because she had used it to treat her “Koi fish”. Within 20 minutes, the woman began vomiting and her husband experienced breathing difficulty.

 

But the story didn’t end there. Nigeria saw dozens poisonings from self-medicating people after U.S. President Donald Trump praised the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for the novel Coronavirus. This time, they took the actual human drug formulation, not the one to treat fish, but they treated themselves with overdosed of chloroquine, the more-toxic cousin of hydroxychloroquine.

Heck, the U.S. president had even told his Twitter followers that Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin “taken together” could be “one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine”, urging them “be put in use IMMEDIATELY.” Donald Trump’s half-baked remarks did not only kill people, but has created a shortage of drugs like Azithromycin for patients who genuinely need the medication.

 

Exactly why is the president promoting the anti-malaria drug so aggressively? Critics claimed the Donald Trump has a “small financial interest” in the manufacturer of the anti-malaria drug. The New York Times reported that the president’s family trusts have investments in a mutual fund whose largest holding is Sanofi, the French manufacturer of Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine.

 

However, Trump’s stake in that mutual fund from a firm called Dodge & Cox. is rather small. The value of each of those holdings is between US$1,001 and US$15,000, which would put Trump’s stake in Sanofi at “between about US$100 and US$1,500 in total – based on the president’s latest financial disclosure form.

That would leave only one reason as to why Trump repeated like a broken record that the anti-malaria drug is a “game changer” cure for the virus. The nation recorded 90,000 Covid-19 death on Monday. Facing re-election in November, he desperately needs to give Americans a “hope”, no matter how ridiculous or silly it may sound.

 

Yes, Trump needs to create a perception that he’s a strong leader who is leading the nation in fighting the Coronavirus. And he needs to give Americans a solution (even though it doesn’t work) while waiting for an effective vaccine to be developed. After all, didn’t he suggest last month to kill the bloody virus by injecting disinfectant or bleach into the body, not to mention irradiating patients’ bodies with UV light?

 

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May 20th, 2020 by financetwitter

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