Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Flouting Advice From Experts In His Own Administration, Trump Again Touts Malaria Drug's Potential
The New York Times: Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use Of Hydroxychloroquine
President Trump doubled down Sunday on his push for the use of an anti-malarial drug against the coronavirus, issuing medical advice that goes well beyond scant evidence of the drug’s effectiveness as well as the advice of doctors and public health experts. Mr. Trump’s recommendation of hydroxychloroquine, for the second day in a row at a White House briefing, was a striking example of his brazen willingness to distort and outright defy expert opinion and scientific evidence when it does not suit his agenda. (Crowley, Thomas and Haberman, 4/5)
The Associated Press Fact Check: Trump Pitches Drug Not Approved For Coronavirus
President Donald Trump is pitching a medicine for COVID-19 sufferers that science has not concluded is effective or safe for their use. “Take it,” he said of the drug. For people sick with the coronavirus, he said Sunday, “It can help them but it’s not going to hurt them.” In fact, it may or may not help some people, and it may or may not hurt them. His straight-ahead advocacy of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, is the latest and one of the most consequential examples of Trump and public-health authorities not being on the same page in the pandemic. (Yen, Tucker and Woodward, 4/6)
The Washington Post: Giuliani, A Familiar Voice In Trump’s Ear, Promotes Experimental Coronavirus Treatments
Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was in the center of the impeachment storm earlier this year as an unpaid private attorney for President Trump, has cast himself in a new role: as personal science adviser to a president eager to find ways to short-circuit the coronavirus pandemic. In one-on-one phone calls with Trump, Giuliani said, he has been touting the use of an anti-malarial drug combination that has shown some early promise in treating covid-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes, but whose effectiveness has not yet been proved. (Helderman, Dawsey and Swaine, 4/5)
The Wall Street Journal: States Try Reducing Malaria-Drug Hoarding Amid Unproven Coronavirus Benefit
States across the U.S. are taking steps to prevent hoarding of decades-old antimalarial drugs for treatment of the new coronavirus, an effort to preserve supplies for other patients who rely on the medicines to remedy ailments such as lupus and arthritis. At least 20 states late last month began implementing emergency restrictions or guidelines to ease pressure on the supply of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for the autoimmune patients. Some states are limiting prescription sizes or asking pharmacists to make sure a patient tested positive for the coronavirus. (Hopkins, 4/5)
The Wall Street Journal: Gilead Accelerates Production Of Experimental Coronavirus Drug
Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD 1.60% has ramped up production of its experimental coronavirus drug, which has seen overwhelming demand amid a surge in cases around the world. The drugmaker said Saturday that it now has 1.5 million individual doses of its drug remdesivir on hand, an amount that could be enough to supply more than 140,000 patients. Gilead, which won’t charge for the supply, is making the drug available through clinical trials and special programs that allow doctors and hospitals to apply for access. (Wilde Mathews and Rockoff, 4/4)
The Associated Press: Patients Rush To Join Studies Testing Drug For Coronavirus
The new coronavirus made Dr. Jag Singh a patient at his own hospital. His alarm grew as he saw an X-ray of his pneumonia-choked lungs and colleagues asked his wishes about life support while wheeling him into Massachusetts General’s intensive care unit. When they offered him a chance to help test remdesivir, an experimental drug that’s shown promise against some other coronaviruses, “it did not even cross my mind once to say ‘no,’” said Singh, a heart specialist. Coronavirus patients around the world have been rushing to join remdesivir studies that opened in hospitals in the last few weeks. (Marchione, 4/6)
Kaiser Health News: ‘You Pray That You Got The Drug.’ Ailing Couple Gambles On Trial For COVID-19 Cure
For 10 days last month, they lay in side-by-side isolation units in a Seattle-area hospital, tethered to oxygen and struggling to breathe as the coronavirus ravaged their lungs. After nearly 52 years of marriage, that was the hardest thing: being apart in this moment, too weak to care for each other, each alone with their anxiety and anguish. “I worried about my husband a lot,” recalled Josie Taylor, 74, who fell ill a few days before George, 76. “Yes, I was concerned about me, but I was more concerned about what was going to happen to him.” (Aleccia, 4/6)
CNN: Trump Doubles Down On Unproven Drug Hydroxychloroquine To Treat And Prevent Coronavirus
President Donald Trump on Sunday again doubled down on an unproven therapy for the novel coronavirus: hydroxychloroquine. Without citing evidence, he said it's a "great" and "powerful" anti-malaria drug "and there are signs that it works on this, some very strong signs. "For people without heart problems, Trump recommended combining hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin, a common antibiotic. He said azithromycin "will kill certain things that you don't want living within your body." (Azad, Yu and Robertson, 4/6)
The Hill: Trump Promotes Use Of Drug For Coronavirus: 'I'm Not A Doctor. But I Have Common Sense'
President Trump on Sunday forcefully touted the use of hydroxychloroquine as a potential means to combat or even prevent the onset of symptoms from the coronavirus, wading further into a medical debate that has put him at odds with some of his top health experts. Trump said the government has stockpiled 29 million pills of the drug, which is also used to treat lupus. For a second consecutive day, he suggested even those without coronavirus symptoms might consider taking the drug despite limited evidence about its efficacy in treating the virus. (Samuels, 4/5)
