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> He heard something about these two drugs, and without any scientific evidence he announced it, causing a panic-grab for the drugs. And? As I said, there has
by bart_spoon 7y ago
> He heard something about these two drugs, and without any scientific evidence he announced it, causing a panic-grab for the drugs.
And? As I said, there has been some anecdotal evidence coming from countries like China, SK, and France indicating it could help. It shouldn't be a strike against a government official for sharing potentially important information. At a certain point we need to stop blaming people in positions of authority for the stupidity that exists among individuals in society. I'd rather my government be open and transparent than hide information from me because the more idiotic portions of the population may react poorly.
Its also worth noting that Hydroxychloroquine is unavailable in the US without a prescription. The "panic-grab" you are seeing is entirely due to physicians buying for themselves and their family/friends. Definitely sleazy, but they are hardly uninformed.
> Unfortunately even the CDC was saying we don't have evidence supporting it.
The CDC has proven itself to be conservative and slow to the point of harmful ineptitude. A huge part of the reason the situation in the US has diverged so much from countries that have managed to successfully clamp down on the disease (like SK) is because they insisted that testing rely on their own, overengineered procedures, and because they've insisted (for at least a decade now) that masks are only beneficial for HCPs, despite numerous studies to the contrary and the advice of nations like those in East Asia. Now, after the cat is well out of the bag, they've opened up testing to private companies and other testing procedures, and are now beginning to say that regular people should in fact be using masks to prevent the spread of the disease.
An appeal to authority is a fallacy on the best of days. Its even worse when said authority is in the midst of the most incompetent moment in its history.
- BFatts 7y ago"And?..." Seriously? If there's panic buying (or prescribing, as did occur) then supplies are diminished if not depleted. WHAT GOOD IS THAT?
- bart_spoon 7y agoAs I said, the only people prescribing this stuff are actual physicians. You are assuming that a trained MD is going to start prescribing this stuff willy-nilly based on two sentences by the president? If that actually occurs, it's because they agree with him and are prescribing them as they see fit. There isn't "panic" in the equation. Its physicians trying to help their patients.
- DubiousPusher 7y agoNo but doctors do respond to pressure from patients who will respond to two sentences from the president. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151257/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151257/
- bart_spoon 7y agoSo to be clear, you believe there is a massive run on hydroxychloroquine because Trump mentioned it in a sentence or two as having promise in a press conference, and now thousands and thousands of patients are strong-arming their physicians into giving them prescriptions for it? Even if that wasn't a ridiculous stretch and was actually happening, that's on the shitty doctors, not the president.
- DubiousPusher 7y agoIt is not a ridiculous stretch. Drug companies advertise directly to individuals on popular TV for exactly this reason.