Trump's killer drug?

Frontline healthcare workers use it as a prophylactic against coronavirus. Missionaries and aid workers traveling to locations with high malaria rates have used it as a preventive precaution. It’s been around since 1955 in the United States, yet when President Trump uses hydroxychloroquine the media go nuts.

Neil Cavuto proclaimed to his audience, “It will kill you. I can’t stress that enough: It will kill you.” Really? I love Neil, but there’s absolutely no evidence to back that up. He urged his viewers not to follow the president’s example. I don’t know if anyone clued Neil in, but viewers can’t just drop by their local drug store and start popping hydroxy like Gummy Bears. You have to have a prescription. Trump has a prescription from his doctor.

Nancy Pelosi chimed in declaring the president “morbidly obese” and declaring he should not be taking it. Last time I checked Pelosi was not a doctor, nor is she even close to being an expert.

Here’s what the White House physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said in a statement to the press. “After numerous discussion he [Trump] and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks.”

Several aides around the president have contracted the disease. Trump’s physician would be derelict in his duties if he didn’t do something to try and keep the president from getting it.

But why such a vigorous outcry from the press? It’s puzzling. They keep repeating myths that hydroxychlorquine is killing people. Were that the case, the FDA would’ve pulled the drug from the market 60 years ago. There’s not a study they can point to that shows the drug is killing people. There are several studies that show it’s not really effective in treating coronavirus. There are also several studies that show it is. That’s why these decisions are left to attending physicians. 

It’s curious that the media don’t seem to be open to any other solution other than a vaccine, which could be months, maybe years, away. That strikes me as odd. The only exception is remdesivir. Like hydroxychloroquine, it lacked any clinical studies, yet the media were gleefully touting it as a possible therapeutic. Hydroxychloroquine cost pennies per course. Remdesivir cost around $1,000. Could it be the pharmaceutical companies have the ear of Big Media?

The only other thing that would explain it is President Trump threw out hydroxychloroquine as a solution. That was the kiss of death. Ever since then the media have run story after story about how dangerous it is. They even tried to tie Trump to it financially. Come to find out he has some fund within a small mutual fund that has a stake in it. He stands to make as much as $1,400 or as little as $100. It was a non-story, but that didn’t stop the media from trying.

So, what is a president to do if those around him are coming down with COVID-19? Is he to just wait and hope he doesn’t get it, or should he be proactive in mitigating the effects in case he does? The answer is obvious, but not to the mainstream media.

And since when do they care anything about President Trump’s health? That’s the last thing they care about. There has to be something bigger. Could it be that something like hydroxychloroquine would allow us to go back to normal? There are many on the left and in the media with a vested interest in that not happening, at least not until after November. 

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show, on SuperTalk 99.7WTN in Nashville. He's also co-host of The PodGOATs podcast and I'm Calling Bovine Scatology.