In recent weeks, the Trump White House has been pushing the drug hydroxychloroquine, an immunosuppressive and anti-parasitic drug normally used to treat malaria, as a potential treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. While well-intentioned, there’s a catch: there is no scientific evidence that it will work in treating COVID-19, and there may even be harmful side effects for those that take it.
Just two weeks ago, a couple in Arizona, after watching the president’s daily press conference in which he suggested the drug as a potential treatment option, noticed chloroquine was an ingredient in an additive commonly used to clean fish tanks. Fearing coronavirus, the couple ingested chloroquine phosphate, not hydroxychloroquine, in an effort to prevent the disease. In less than 30 minutes, the husband was dead and the wife was rushed to the emergency room. While it is true that the couple should have been more cautious in their decision to ingest the fatal drug, the same can be said for the president’s decision to make such bold claims.
In order to beat flatten the curve and finally beat the virus for good, the nation needs a unified voice that will lead it through this unprecedented time to the other side of the tunnel. That is not possible as long as the president continues to spread dangerous and potentially lethal information in his daily pressers. To read more on various cases of misinformation in regard to the outbreak, click here.
LIS 4022 Spring 2020 