OK, #IDTwitter, we need to talk about y’all’s bashing of the @nejm remdesivir paper.

We all want RCTs, but the data collection for this paper started in JANUARY. I didn’t know how to spell remdesivir in January.

1/9

Things this paper adds to our knowledge:
-A lot of patients got better. Maybe they would have gotten better without it, but it sure doesn’t seem like patients will die as a result of you giving them remdesivir. 2/9

Things this paper adds to our knowledge (cont.):
-Most adverse events look like they are a result of the disease, not the drug.
-This work serves as a baseline for the better-controlled trials to come (both of remdesivir and others).
3/9

All of you academics decrying the fact this isn’t an RCT should know better that one can’t get thrown together and written up in the time that this was done. This isn’t meant to be epidemiology.
4/9

This is a summary of early clinical experience with an experimental drug that may be useful in managing patients in the most impactful pandemic of the past century. Sounds like @nejm material to me.
5/9

Let’s celebrate what was a tremendous undertaking in combining the clinical experience of over 30 medical centers over the world in providing this information.
6/9

Full disclosure: the first author Jonathan Grein is a great friend, an all-around awesome guy, and one of the true heroes in Los Angeles’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic #TeamLA. Haven't seen the dude for months, hope he's getting enough rest.
7/9

Things not to be jealous of him for:
-his first authorship of a @nejm paper
8/9

Things to be jealous of him for:
-his ability to lead an amazing hospital epi division @CedarsSinai
-his ability to use the Dos Equis guy to teach finer points of pneumonia management
-his ability to slow play a straight and take all your money on the river
9/9