Dear journalists—please don’t let any pundits say Dexamethasone is some amazing miracle #COVID19 drug.

does *NOT* work if not on O2 in RECOVERY trial. (even trends higher risk)

cuts risk only -18% for people on O2 alone

cuts death risk a lot if on ventilators (-36%) https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1312794635559931906

2) This also implies that Trump’s doctor should NOT be overly aggressive in giving dexamethasone too early in illness. Data says you can’t simply use it as some “kitchen sink” approach. Thus, if they used it, Trump’s illness must be pretty dire.

3) And the -18% is NOT absolute risk reduction. It is just a relative 18% reduction. Best way to see it is on the graph. See lower left panel. It’s not a big huge curve lowering at all! #COVID19

4) Feel free to read yourself. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2021436