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Why Trump's Desperate Bid For A Win On COVID-19 Puts Lives At Risk
President Donald Trump announcing a “historic breakthrough” against COVID-19 over the weekend sure looked like an attempt to grab some favorable headlines ahead of this week’s Republican National Convention.
It’s not hard to understand the desperation: Trump doesn’t have much good news to offer. The pandemic’s death toll in the U.S. is approaching 200,000. The death rate, measured relative to population, is already among the worst in the developed world. And while other countries are welcoming kids to school, resuming live sports and reopening restaurants, the U.S. remains stuck trying to combat a virus still ravaging parts of the country.
Not all of this is Trump’s fault, obviously. But plenty of it is.
He hasn’t paid attention to evidence. He has shown contempt for scientific advisers. He has grasped at quick fixes rather than patiently working with scientists and fellow elected leaders to craft effective, long-term policies.
All of these tendencies were on display Sunday, when Trump announced the Food and Drug Administration had authorized wider use of convalescent plasma therapy, in which COVID-19 patients get infusions of antibodies derived from the blood of people who have already recovered from the disease.
The president described it as “a truly historic announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless lives.”
Some of the nation’s best-known public health experts were aghast at the administration’s claims on the treatment’s potential ― and, more importantly, at Trump’s badgering of the FDA to get approval in the days leading up to the announcement.
He’s jeopardizing the agency’s independence, they warn, at precisely the moment when that independence is critical to success.
The Therapy Is Probably Fine, But Nobody Is Sure Of Its Value
Convalescent plasma therapy is not a new concept. Scientists first tried it successfully in the late 19th century, when they used animal blood...
