With a quarter of Americans on lockdown to help stop the spread of the global pandemic, President Trump has been repeatedly taking the White House podium to spread inaccurate information and promise miracle drugs that haven't been properly tested yet.
This past Saturday, March 21, however, Trump mixed things up by taking his medical advice to Twitter.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted to his millions of followers that two drugs, Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin, should be taken together to treat the virus.
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the… https://t.co/0ZEF0mdfJg— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1584799988.0
....be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE! @US_FDA @SteveFDA @CDCgov @DHSgov— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1584799989.0
Doctors quickly tried to warn people.
These two drugs—taken together—can put people at risk of arrhythmia, a potentially deadly heart condition.
Please don't take hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) plus Azithromycin for #COVID19 UNLESS your doctor prescribes it. B… https://t.co/3V6VKR15uw— Dr. Edsel Salvana (@Dr. Edsel Salvana)1584781066.0
@realDonaldTrump 🛑Hydroxychloroquine (plaquenil) can prolong the QT interval (heart rhythm) and can cause a FATAL a… https://t.co/6oyCSSc1FK— Dr. Dena Grayson (@Dr. Dena Grayson)1584820147.0
@realDonaldTrump The combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat the coronavirus has not been prove… https://t.co/9sikpbOl3d— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD)1584800142.0
@realDonaldTrump I know this is an emergency and we are desperate. But as a physician, I took a solemn oath to “fir… https://t.co/fFPcpARSfT— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD)1584800382.0
Trump once again told people about this new treatment without waiting for clinical trials or FDA approval, saying:
"What do we have to lose? I feel very good about it."
@realDonaldTrump Hydroxychloroquine, a drug approved to treat malaria caused by Plasmodium species, not viruses & a… https://t.co/QEWGHruL1Y— Rebecca #FlattenTheCurve (@Rebecca #FlattenTheCurve)1584802311.0
Taking Hydroxychloroquine & Azithromycin together causes a drug interaction that increases risk of irregular heartb… https://t.co/w2rRPnnlGr— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu)1584810628.0
When receiving medicine, always follow the advice of experts...not a President who routinely refers to facts he doesn't like as "fake news."
@realDonaldTrump Doctor Trump is prescribing medications for #COVIDー19 to millions of Americans on twitter. I advi… https://t.co/OGiv88f2vP— Chidi®️ (@Chidi®️)1584800483.0
Both plaquenil & azithromycin can potentially cause a cardiac disturbance called prolonged QTc. Taken together, the… https://t.co/O88CyivyPU— Matt McCarthy (@Matt McCarthy)1584707970.0
Trump is eager to find a "cure" for this disease so he can win political points.
But he seems unwilling to actually wait for word from scientists.
@realDonaldTrump In summary, our not-at-all-a-doctor president is pushing a drug cocktail that hasn’t been tested b… https://t.co/QiEIkUeEjA— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen)1584806688.0
This isn't the first time President Trump has pushed a new medicine before coordinating with the medical community.
At an earlier press conference, he suggested taking just hydroxychloroquine—also referred to as just chloroquine—for treatment, resulting in a harmful shortage of the drug and dangerous overdoses.
#FactsNotFear @WHO has NOT approved the use of chloroquine for #COVID19 management. Scientists are working hard to… https://t.co/s9wYgnAAn5— NCDC (@NCDC)1584713962.0
Oh heck. Looks like when Trump's scientific adviser Fauci called the evidence for hydroxychloroquine "anecdotal", T… https://t.co/EJeBmtX26r— Trisha Greenhalgh (@Trisha Greenhalgh)1584968819.0
Chloroquine. Who knew? “What could it hurt?” He said. WHO says it is experimental, and there is a thin space betwe… https://t.co/m1dFMwUOi0— Chris Morris (@Chris Morris)1584982263.0
Already, the world has been forced to deal with confusion connected to President Trump's new medical endorsement.
Hydroxychloroquinine is in short supply, should any supplier have access to product pls contact me.… https://t.co/njzm1D5AOv— Isabel Silva (@Isabel Silva)1584982684.0
#clinicaltrials for #Hydroxycloroquine #Chloroquine and #Azithromycin starting on Tuesday. Praying for positive res… https://t.co/jaSTIBBfba— Dr. Allyson Ocean (@Dr. Allyson Ocean)1584890844.0
When receiving medical treatment, always follow the advice of your doctor. The President's political desires shouldn't factor in.