Brian C.Joondeph, MD:
“…Trump derangement syndrome (TDS), according to Urban Dictionary, is a “Contagious, debilitating psychiatric disorder manifesting in a precipitous decline in intellectual and emotional stability and resilience.” The contagious and debilitating bits sound much like the Wuhan flu.
TDS, also known in infectious disease circles as Covfefe-45, not to be confused with Covid-19, has mutated into another form, namely hydroxychloroquine derangement syndrome, referring to the abject media hysteria over the innocuous prescription medication. Attorney General William Barr even noticed and, “Claimed that the Washington press corps is on a ‘jihad’ against President Trump over his promotion of an anti-malaria drug to treat the novel coronavirus.”
This is simply a small battle in the larger war against all things Trump, which the left and the media (sorry to be repetitive) have been engaged in since June 2015 when candidate Trump rode down the escalator at Trump Tower announcing his candidacy…
…The VA health system recently published the results of their experience using hydroxy for COVID. The media was giddy with delight, even though few actually appeared to have read the study. Instead their hysterical headlines reflected their hydroxy derangement syndrome.
From CNN, “Study finds no benefit, higher death rate in patients taking hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19.”
AP in perfect harmony wrote, “More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug in VA virus study.”
Even Fox News, lurching to the left as fast as the Drudge Report, ran this headline, “COVID-19 treatment hydroxychloroquine showed no benefit, more deaths in VA virus study.
See, see. Trump was wrong. He’s an idiot and dangerous. He promoted this deadly drug since he wants to Make America Dead Again. COVID affects darker skinned individuals preferentially and Trump is a racist for pushing a drug that kills blacks. It’s Charlottesville all over again. Orange man bad. You get the picture…
…In other words, the three groups were not comparable, a feature of randomization. Sicker patients received these medications. Sicker patients, by the fact that they were sicker, were also more likely to die. As they did. The healthier patients received nothing and fared better, as expected. The media asserted that the hydroxy killed these patients when in reality they died from the virus, which may not have been adequately or aggressively treated.
An honest and inquisitive media might get off their high horses and ask relevant questions. Why should hydroxy only be reserved for the sickest patients, when such treatment may be too little too late? Should hydroxy be used much earlier in the course of infection?
We do know, based on 65 years prescribing experience, that hydroxy is relatively safe. Some studies say it is effective, others say it is not. Yet if it can save one life, it is worth it, to borrow a phrase from the left. Looking at the totality of data and experience with hydroxy, the risk/benefit ratio favors benefit.
Perhaps that ratio may change over time, as is most thinking on the virus including clinical manifestations and best treatment practices.
Yet the hair-on-fire media remain hell bent on discrediting hydroxy, regardless of the facts, simply because the big bad orange man recommended it as a potential treatment option for COVID. Derangement indeed. Forget the media chattering class. Think for yourself. Trust yourself…”