Press does the 'gotcha' dance over 'Trump-touted' NIH Hydroxychloroquine non-recommendation, flunks basic reporting

American Thinker ^ | 04/22/2020 | Monica Showalter

[SeekAndFind]

For the press, it's quite the "gotcha" dance. 

The National Institutes of Health's refusal to recommend the use of the common anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin for the treatment of COVID-19, was proof positive according to the "science" that President Trump was wrong about the use of the drug, as well as an incompetent who was touting quack medicine, given that he noted the treatment as promising in one of his tweets.

They've finally got something to pin on him.

Here's a sampler of some of the headlines out there from NPR, CNN, Forbes, The Hill, and the New York Times: 

 

One problem: The headlines are distorted.  First, Trump most certainly didn't tout the drug as a proven treatment; he called it a potential treatment with a "real chance" of being a good one and didn't rule out there weren't many.

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents).....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020

He also made several statements in the aftermath to clarify that more testing is needed and he wasn't calling this a panacea.

But that didn't matter to the biased media.

The Times went so far as to try to prove, badly, that the anti-malarial drug he cited was something he had a financial stake in and that he stood to make millions from promoting it.  They found a negligible stake in some distant mutual fund holding of his through a trust he does not control and then touted that as proof that Trump was selling snake oil to turn a profit.  

[SeekAndFind]

Here's the actual NIH wording:

At present, no drug has been proven to be safe and effective for treating COVID-19. There are no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs specifically to treat patients with COVID-19. Although reports have appeared in the medical literature and the lay press claiming successful treatment of patients with COVID-19 with a variety of agents, definitive clinical trial data are needed to identify optimal treatments for this disease. Recommended clinical management of patients with COVID-19 includes infection prevention and control measures and supportive care, including supplemental oxygen and mechanical ventilatory support when indicated. As in the management of any disease, treatment decisions ultimately reside with the patient and their health care provider.

Antivirals:

• There are insufficient clinical data to recommend either for or against using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 (AIII).
  • If chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is used, clinicians should monitor the patient for adverse effects, especially prolonged QTc interval (AIII).
• There are insufficient clinical data to recommend either for or against using the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 (AIII).
  • Remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19 is currently being investigated in clinical trials and is also available through expanded access and compassionate use mechanisms for certain patient populations.
• Except in the context of a clinical trial, the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) recommends against the use of the following drugs for the treatment of COVID-19:
  • The combination of hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin (AIII) because of the potential for toxicities.

And here's the kicker from the NIH, seen on its Introduction page:

Finally, it is important to stress that the rated treatment recommendations in these Guidelines should not be considered mandates. The choice of what to do or not to do for an individual patient is ultimately decided by the patient together with their [sic] provider.

The people running the NIH aren't forbidding it.  They aren't giving a go or no-go on the use of hydroxychloroquine.  They are issuing a non-recommendation for its use in a particular combination based on potential problems already seen, and only outside clinical trials.  And Politico of all places has done a far fairer story about what the NIH report said, although that publication goes a little strong on the "Trump touted" narrative.  Politico wrote this:

There is not enough data for or against the vast majority of the medicines, the panel said in its "living document", while warning against using some outside of clinical trials. Those included the combination of hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, which President Donald Trump has repeatedly recommended, because of increased risk for heart problems, as well as Eli Lilly's Olumiant because it can worsen infections.

The panel also advised against a group of drugs known as interferons because of lack of efficacy data. And it warned that an HIV drug combination, lopinavir and ritonavir, did not show a clear benefit on mortality rates or length of hospital stays compared to standard of care in a randomized Chinese trial.

The experts added that there are conflicting results for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and advised physicians to monitor their patients with use. The drugs have been on the market for decades to treat malaria and more recently lupus and arthritis. The president has often touted hydroxychloroquine in particular, but has not mentioned it on the press briefing stage in nearly a week.

It's telling that in nearly all the press reports, the link to the NIH statement goes only to the front page, not the actual recommendations page.  That sounds like a media spin effort to get a gotcha dance going, without benefit of precise facts. 

[NohSpinZone]

The media scum are clearly showing themselves more interested in making the POTUS look bad vs. the country finding a way out of the COVID mess. They are despicable human beings. For shame.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The NIH basically parroted Fauci.
We’re not giving our blessing without a series of double-blind studies. Nothing more.

Reporting on this is journalistic malpractice.

[SeekAndFind]

Here's the Bottom Line in this latest media reporting frenzy:

Trump hasn't touted the matter as a panacea as the media claim he does, and based on his past statements calling for more medical knowledge, he would agree with the NIH recommendations such as they have called for more testing. Fact also: The NIH hasn't squelched the drug he cited, even if he had touted it as a cure-all.

It's all media spin designed to demoralize COVID-19 patients who might want to try the drug or who have no options other than right-to-try. Pinning the drug on Trump and then claiming that the NIH said "no" to him because he's such a quack is nonsense.

[RushingWater]

The media scum are clearly showing themselves more interested in making the POTUS look bad vs. the country finding a way out of the COVID mess. They are despicable human beings. For shame.

Just wanted to agree and repost. Unbelievable how horrid they are.

[AndyJackson]

Let it be emphasized the report concluded:

Except in the context of a clinical trial, the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) recommends against the use of the following drugs for the treatment of COVID-19: The combination of hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin (AIII) because of the potential for toxicities.

This is a fudge. We know the toxicities.

[Cboldt]

Q Yeah, the hydroxychloroquine. I'm wondering if you're concerned -- this VA study showed that actually more people died that used the drug than didn't. ... And a panel of experts at the NIH is actually now recommending against the use of hydroxychloroquine in combination with Z-Pak, which is something you've --

April 21, 2020 WH Press Briefing

[cba123]

Bingo.

This is a perfect example of leftist media bias.

There will be a number of studies coming out now.

This was not a representative study. Wait, for more data.

[G Larry]

I want to see every one of these phony reporters swear they will never take the HCQ meds in the event they catch COVID-19.

[melsec]

Australian government is currently doing a 70 hospital trial of this drug the results have been so promising early on.

[Mr. K]

"The choice of what to do or not to do for an individual patient is ultimately decided by the patient together with their [sic] provider"

What's wrong with that sentence? Why the [sic]? I'm not seeing it, it looks correct to me.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: What’s wrong with that sentence? Why the [sic]? I’m not seeing it, it looks correct to me

“The patient” is singular, “their” is plural.

[Tench_Coxe]

They media has gone beyond a joke to criminality imho.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Australian government is currently doing a 70 hospital trial of this drug the results have been so promising early on.

I’m very skeptical with trials.

If none of the trials are designed to replicate the successful cases that were documented already (e.g. Dr. Didier Raoult or Dr. Vladimir Zelenko ) via right choices of patient cases and disease progression and right usage of drug combo, then they are doing DIFFERENT trials under different conditions.

[MCEscherHammer]

But, where’s the Zinc Sulfate?

From what I have read, the HCQ+Z-Pak combination is successful as a full cocktail with Zinc Sulfate included. And, it is successful with early Covid-19 disease, before the patients slip into a full cytokine blast and require a respiratory ventilator/ICU.

I’m also reading that many of the so-called “clinical trials’ underway either do not include Zinc or only use the cocktail for patients on ventilators at the very end of the Covid-19 disease. Too late!

Clinical trials are only as good as the Protocol Design!

The $$$ interests in Big Pharma do not want an FDA approval for the HCQ/Z-Pak/Zn regimen; FDA, CDC, NIH march in unison!

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I want to see every one of these phony reporters swear they will never take the HCQ meds in the event they catch COVID-19.

I don’t think Chris Cuomo, who has recovered ever took the HCQ meds. Not sure about George Stephanopoulos.

Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson did though.

[melsec]

While I understand what you mean I believe they are intent on running it as one trial using information already gathered from overseas as the starting point.

[Crucial]

From what I read, deaths due to Zithromax concerns a rare condition known as long QT
Syndrome that produces cardiac arrhythmia.
So red tape and lack of screening should deny life saving benefits to tens of thousands of people?

And for what, so liberals can score a win against Trump? It’s absolutely disgusting and why liberals deserve to be loathed.

[maggief]

“There will be a number of studies coming out now.”

Watch for who is paying for the studies; ie. Gates Foundation, W.H.O., N.I.H., etc.