Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Experimental Antibody Cocktail, Steroids: What We Know About Trump's Treatment
The Wall Street Journal: Trump Took Steroid As Oxygen Levels Dropped, Doctors Say
Doctors said President Trump’s condition was improving on Sunday, two days after he checked into the hospital, though they also noted that his blood oxygen level had dropped on Saturday and that he was taking a steroid that has typically been given to Covid-19 patients who are seriously ill. Doctors said on Sunday the president could be sent back to the White House as soon as Monday, as they sought to clarify his condition after several days of contradictory information from doctors and advisers. Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s physician, said at a news conference on Sunday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that Mr. Trump’s condition “continues to improve.” But he also said Mr. Trump’s symptoms had been serious, adding that he tried to provide an “upbeat” assessment in a Saturday briefing. (Restuccia and Lucey, 10/4)
USA Today: Was Trump Ever On Oxygen? Health, Security Experts Say America Needs 'Total Honesty' On President'S Condition
In the first public briefing since President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis, White House physician Sean Conley would not answer several questions about whether the president had been on oxygen, whether he had lung damage or when he last received a negative coronavirus test. Conley, who has served as physician to the president since 2018, appeared with a team of nine clinicians outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for less than 20 minutes Saturday morning and fielded dozens of questions. Doctors said the president had been fever-free for more than 24 hours, received an experimental antibody therapy and was undergoing a five-day course of the drug remdesivir. (Hauck and Vanden Brook, 10/3)
Stat: Trump Getting A Steroid Usually For Patients With Severe Covid-19
To treat his Covid-19, President Trump has started receiving dexamethasone, a common steroid that has been shown to be helpful in people with severe cases of the disease but that doctors warn should not be used early in the course of the illness. The announcement from Trump’s medical team Sunday morning that the president is on dexamethasone is sure to increase speculation about the president’s illness and was at odds with the generally upbeat description of his condition provided by his physicians. (Joseph, 10/4)
CNBC: What We Know About Regeneron Antibody Drug Trump Took To Combat Coronavirus
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday he believes the White House carefully considered all of its treatment options before it opted to give President Donald Trump the experimental coronavirus antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. "This was a wholly appropriate decision to give him active therapy, and then it just became a choice of which therapy," Gottlieb said on "Fast Money," prior to Trump being taken to Walter Reed Medical Center "out of an abundance of caution" following his coronavirus diagnosis. (10/3)
The Washington Post: An Army Of Doctors. Access To An Experimental Drug. A Special Patient Gets Special Care.
Trump’s caregivers are sparing nothing in their attempt to treat his coronavirus infection. From his team of providers to his helicopter flight to the hospital to the experimental drug that fewer than 10 others have received outside a clinical trial, Trump has access to care available to few of the other 7.3 million people in the United States infected so far by the coronavirus. Even with symptoms that Conley appeared to describe as moderate at worst, the 74-year-old president is the VIP of VIPs in his battle against covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. (Bernstein and McGinley, 10/3)
Also —
USA Today: Trump Is Getting Medication, Experimental COVID Treatments: Too Much?
One potential downside to being president of the United States: too much care. Presidents have always received VIP medicine, but “excessive care isn’t necessarily good quality care,” said Dr. J. Randall Curtis, a professor of pulmonary and critical care at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The concern is that having too much focus and too many people involved could result in overtreatment as President Donald Trump is treated for COVID-19 at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. (Weise and Weintraub, 10/4)
AP: Of Presidents And Health, History Replete With Secrecy, Lies
Pandemics have cursed the presidencies of both Trump and Woodrow Wilson. Each played down the viruses that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Both presidents got sick — and each had to decide how much to tell the public. Like many administrations before, Wilson’s White House tried to keep his sickness secret. (Reichmann, 10/3)
USA Today: President Had Regeneron And Gilead Stock
President Donald Trump previously reported he earned capital gains from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences Inc., the manufacturers of two of the medicines he's taken as part of his COVID-19 treatment plan. According to a 2017 financial disclosure form filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in June 2017, Trump had a capital gain of $50,001 to $100,000 for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and $100,001 to $1 million for Gilead Sciences Inc. The form notes the information was of April 15, 2017.Trump’s subsequent disclosure forms, including his 2020 form signed July 31, did not list Regeneron or Gilead. (Tyko, 10/3)
