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As a doctor, I yearn for us to have effective therapies for #COVID19. However, @realdonaldtrump's rushed "Emergency Use Authorization" for convalescent plasma (an unproven treatment) may actually *harm* our ability to fight the virus. That's right - harm it. Here's why: (1/12)
When someone recovers from #COVID19, their blood will have antibodies that may help others currently infected. By transferring these antibodies via plasma, immunity could (in theory) be passed to the patient to speed recovery & save lives. But we must *study* this theory. (2/12)
Before the president's "Emergency Use Authorization," patients could get this plasma in studies & through an FDA program that made the treatment available to patients if a study was not available. Over 70,000 patients received it & data was collected from each of them. (3/12)
But the president's order short-circuits this step & makes collecting data on those who receive convalescent plasma *more difficult*. It also makes enrolling patients in the “gold standard” Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) much more difficult. Here's why... (4/12)
This happened with hydroxychloroquine: patients stopped enrolling when it got the EUA. We're now left with a potentially beneficial treatment that we can't effectively study to see who benefits. When should it be given? How much? For how long? Much of this may be lost now. (5/12)
Why was this EUA issued one day before the #RNCConvention began? The President tweeted his displeasure with the FDA the day prior, suggesting politics held up the EUA. He claimed some “Deep State” -- which he ostensibly oversees -- was conspiring against him. (6/12)
In the old days (aka, pre-2017), the FDA (and CDC, HHS, etc, etc) was seen as an apolitical science-based entity within the US government intended to utilize the best available evidence to recommend the best ways to cure & manage diseases. Now? Not so much. (7/12)
During the #pandemic, @realdonaldtrump & his administration have repeatedly rejected recommendations of the experts inside their own government. He pressured the CDC to alter its return-to-school recommendations. He pressured the FDA to issue an EUA for hydroxychloroquine. (8/12)
He has repeatedly rejected the need to wear masks, has only worn one in public a handful of times, and refused to issue a national mask mandate that would likely save 40,000+ lives before the end of summer. (9/12)
He's also resisted calls to massively increase testing & utilize the Defense Production Act to ensure availability of the rapid-turn-around tests that he & his White House use daily, for all Americans to safely open schools & resume business as usual. (10/12)
In a pandemic that's claimed nearly 180,000 American lives, cratered a fragile economy & lead to widespread unemployment, one would think that a President would do anything possible to improve the US response & path to recovery. Yet, this EUA could actually set us back. (11/12)
It brings me no joy to say that the current occupant of the Oval Office is more interested in politics than science. In talk, than action.
He just won't do the work necessary to control the spread of #SARSCov2. And the lives of American people hang in the balance. (/END.)
He just won't do the work necessary to control the spread of #SARSCov2. And the lives of American people hang in the balance. (/END.)
