How The Special COVID Care Trump Received Differs From The Rest Of Us
The urgent and cutting-edge treatment plan helping President Donald Trump to battle COVID-19 is expected for a sitting president: early testing; a medevac; a phalanx of doctors; access to experimental drugs; and 24/7 monitoring. But the experience of any other American with COVID would never come close to that level of care.
The New York Times:
Most Patients’ Covid-19 Care Bears Little Resemblance To Trump’s
As a buoyant President Trump emerged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center this week, appeared on a balcony at the White House, and proclaimed on Twitter that the public should have no fear of the coronavirus, many Americans saw few parallels between Mr. Trump’s experience with the virus and their own. One man in Texas said he understood why the president of the United States would have top-flight doctors, but could not help comparing the place where Mr. Trump was treated with the facility where his 87-year-old mother became sick. “He’s got the best care in the world,” said Samuel Roy Quinn, whose mother died at a nursing home in April. “I’m not sure that my mom got the best care in the world at that facility she was staying at.” (Bosman, Mervosh, Harmon and Bogel-Burroughs, 10/6)
USA Today:
Donald Trump's COVID-19 Treatment Is Similar To The Average American Hospitalized With Coronavirus. Only Faster.
President Donald Trump has had the best possible care for his COVID-19, his doctors have repeatedly assured America. "He's on a routine regimen of COVID therapy," his physician Sean Conley said Monday. It's true that while he's had outstanding care, Trump's therapies have been similar to those available to most other hospitalized COVID-19 patients – with two major exceptions. (Weintraub, 10/6)
The Atlantic:
Donald Trump’s Gold-Plated Health Care
Shortly after returning to the White House last night, Donald Trump tweeted out a triumphant video in which he urges Americans not to let the coronavirus “dominate your life,” because “we have the best medicines in the world.” That was true of Trump’s stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, during which doctors threw the kitchen sink of COVID-19 medicines at him while he relaxed, knowing his bills would be covered. [But] for the average person hospitalized for the virus, specialized treatment for COVID-19 would be less immediately accessible, less comprehensive, and much more expensive. (Khazan, 10/6)
AP:
Ethicists Say Trump Special Treatment Raises Fairness Issues
The special treatment President Donald Trump received to access an experimental COVID-19 drug raises fairness issues that start with the flawed health care system many Americans endure and end with the public’s right to know more about his condition, ethics and medical experts say. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. revealed on Tuesday how rare it was for anyone to get the drug it gave Trump outside of studies testing its safety and effectiveness. The drug, which supplies antibodies to help the immune system clear the coronavirus, is widely viewed as very promising. (Marchione, 10/7)
NPR:
Cutting Edge Care For President Trump Who Says Don't Be Afraid Of The Virus
"The President received experimental therapies that no one has access to," says Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University. "As far as we know, the President is the only person in the world to have received this combination of treatments," she says. (Chatterjee, 10/6)
In related news about the president's medical care —
Stat:
Is 'It Can't Hurt' The Rationale For Giving Trump Unproven Covid-19 Treatments?
Like all Americans infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, President Trump deserves the best medical care. As he has now been discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, we wish him a fast and full recovery. But what does “the best medical care” mean? For many diseases, and especially new ones with emerging evidence, what is best is often unclear. As doctors and as students of medical history, we believe that the best care involves safe therapies known to be effective. Using this definition, there are reasons to be concerned for the president. (Cifu and Prasad, 10/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Bill Gates Says Antibody Drugs Could Sharply Reduce Covid-19 Death Rate
Antibody drugs that are in testing and were administered to President Trump could significantly reduce the death rate from Covid-19 once they are approved by regulators and more widely available, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said Tuesday. The drugs, in a class of medicines known as monoclonal antibodies, have shown promise in early-stage patients with Covid-19. “That’s actually pretty exciting,” Mr. Gates told The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit. “The reduction in death rate there could be pretty high, and those will be out in volume by the end of the year, at least in the rich countries.” (McKay, 10/6)
The Atlantic:
What Makes Osteopathic Doctors Different
After three of Andrew Taylor Still’s children died of spinal meningitis in 1864, the midwestern healer turned against mainstream medicine. Eschewing drugs and surgery, Still gravitated toward the wellness offerings of his era, dabbling in magnetic healing and hydrotherapy, before outlining a philosophy of his own. Drawing from the teachings of his Methodist-preacher father and his own experiences farming on the frontier, Still argued that the body was a self-healing machine. When physical, psychological, and spiritual afflictions interfered, a doctor’s job was to gently return a patient to homeostasis, usually through hands-on manipulation of the spine. Still called this new discipline osteopathy. (Cummins, 10/6)
