WEBVTT - President Trump Taking Hydroxychloroquine Despite Safety Concerns

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<v Speaker 1>It's Wednesday. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily Dive podcast

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<v Speaker 1>in Los Angeles, and this is your daily coronavirus update.

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<v Speaker 1>President Trump caused a stir when he announced that he

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<v Speaker 1>is taking hydroxy chloroquin as a protection against coronavirus. He

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<v Speaker 1>said he began taking it right around the time that

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<v Speaker 1>news broke that two White House staffers had tested positive

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<v Speaker 1>for COVID nineteen. While the drug has been around for

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<v Speaker 1>a long time, there is no proof that it prevents

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<v Speaker 1>someone from contracting the virus, and there are concerns about

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<v Speaker 1>side effects. Lenny Bernstein, health and medicine reporter at the

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Post, joins us for more. Thanks for joining us, Lenny,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for having me back. I wanted to bring you

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<v Speaker 1>on to talk about President Trump. He caused the stir

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<v Speaker 1>on Monday when he announced that he's taking the drug

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<v Speaker 1>hydroxy chloroquin along with a zinc supplement as protection against

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<v Speaker 1>the coronavirus. Obviously, we know the backstory with hydroxy chloroquine.

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<v Speaker 1>The President was pushing really hard for it. The f

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<v Speaker 1>d A let doctors prescribe it to their patients in

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<v Speaker 1>hopes that it can help treat it. But we've had

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<v Speaker 1>some studies that show that it really provides no benefit there.

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<v Speaker 1>So when the President said he was taking it right away,

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<v Speaker 1>everybody went into a tizzy about it. Let me tell

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<v Speaker 1>us some more about it. As you said, there is

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<v Speaker 1>no evidence that hydroxy chloroquine helps prevent or treat COVID nineteen.

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<v Speaker 1>There are some studies that actually show that it may

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<v Speaker 1>have a little bit more tendency to endanger you if

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<v Speaker 1>you take this then if you don't take it. So

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<v Speaker 1>this is again the president sort of defying medical wisdom.

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<v Speaker 1>He's wants to do and to go with his instincts.

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<v Speaker 1>He's got his intuition, whatever it is you'd like to

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<v Speaker 1>call it. That is his right. Doctors can prescribe this

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<v Speaker 1>off label, although the FDA does not want them to

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<v Speaker 1>do that. But it is problematic because he is such

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<v Speaker 1>an example for the country and everything he does is

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<v Speaker 1>covered so intensely that many people worry that there will

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<v Speaker 1>be a clamor in the public to get this medication.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what happened the first time around, when he was

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<v Speaker 1>pushing pretty hard for it. Prescriptions rose quite a bit.

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<v Speaker 1>Also when he suggested that disinfectant might prove a possible

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<v Speaker 1>treatment for the virus. When he suggested that you be

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<v Speaker 1>able to object infectant into your lungs and get rid

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<v Speaker 1>of the virus, there was actually a surge in calls

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<v Speaker 1>to poison control centers about whether or not that was

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<v Speaker 1>an idea. So everything the President set is so widely disseminated,

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<v Speaker 1>especially in the midst of a crisis like this, that

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<v Speaker 1>there's a great deal of concern. Now what are the concerns?

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<v Speaker 1>Number one, if you have hard issues, this can be

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<v Speaker 1>dangerous for you. The medication can goes a rather dangerous

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<v Speaker 1>arrhythmia that will throw at the beating of your heart

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<v Speaker 1>out of whack. So that's one thing. And if you

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<v Speaker 1>haven't had any KG and your doctor hasn't examined you,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know what other medications you're on, it could

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<v Speaker 1>be dangerous. But the other thing is that this medication

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<v Speaker 1>is a legitimate treatment for lupus and saw autoimmune disaands

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<v Speaker 1>and if there's a run on it, those folks may

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<v Speaker 1>find that they can't obtain it. So what happened after this,

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<v Speaker 1>too is the White House went into overdrive kind of

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<v Speaker 1>defending the decision. There. They brought out the Press Secretary

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<v Speaker 1>to say, you can only get hydroxy clerquin in consultation

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<v Speaker 1>with your doctor. You need a prescription for it, so

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<v Speaker 1>it's not like people can just get it really nearly

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<v Speaker 1>out and about. So this brought into the conversation the

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<v Speaker 1>White House physicians Sean P. Conley, and he actually had

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<v Speaker 1>to put out a statement saying that he had numerous

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<v Speaker 1>discussions with the president for and against its use, and

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<v Speaker 1>they said that the potential benefit outweighed the relative risks. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>he said he started taking it maybe about a week

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<v Speaker 1>and a half ago, and that's when we were getting

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<v Speaker 1>reports that a few other people in the White House

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<v Speaker 1>there had contracted COVID nineteen. So I guess that's what

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<v Speaker 1>they meant by the potential benefit, right if if the

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<v Speaker 1>virus had gotten into the White House and the President

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<v Speaker 1>was potentially exposed, they thought to the selves, why not

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<v Speaker 1>put the president on this will keep an eye on him.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe doesn't have these kinds of predispositions too hard a

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<v Speaker 1>rhythmy is that other people would have to worry about.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't really know, we've never really been told about that.

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<v Speaker 1>So yeah, they did a risk benefit analysis of a

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<v Speaker 1>guy who really wanted to take this, and they decided, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>they could do it safely, but that may not be

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<v Speaker 1>true of everybody else. So you have to exercise abundant

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<v Speaker 1>caution not to get yourself into a situation where you

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<v Speaker 1>might have a hard rhythmy you and your doctor. The

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<v Speaker 1>other interesting thing about this, just a sort of a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit on the side, is that Dr Connelly never

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<v Speaker 1>actually said that the patient is taking it, even though

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<v Speaker 1>the President himself has admitted it. I suspect that's because

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<v Speaker 1>hip h privacy laws prevent him from saying anything as

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<v Speaker 1>I think about what a patient of his is taking.

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<v Speaker 1>But it did create a little bit of a fudge factor,

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit of a vagueness about what the President

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<v Speaker 1>had said exactly. And it's unfortunate because a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>this has become very political. And then you also get

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<v Speaker 1>Nancy Pelosi saying, oh, he shouldn't be taken this because

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<v Speaker 1>of his age group and and his weight group, and

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<v Speaker 1>should call morbidly OBEs. You get all this stuff rolled

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<v Speaker 1>into it, and it just amplifies the rest of the story.

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<v Speaker 1>But I didn't want to ask one particular thing because

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<v Speaker 1>President Trump said that he's taking hydroxy chloric quin as

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<v Speaker 1>long as a zinc supplement, and that's an important part

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<v Speaker 1>of it too, because up until then it was either

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<v Speaker 1>hydroxy chloric quin by itself or with the antibiotic azethromycin.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is kind of a slightly different dosage that

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<v Speaker 1>he's taking. There is again some belief among some people

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<v Speaker 1>that zinc may help you. It's not proven, and so

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<v Speaker 1>the president's attitude on these substances is, you know, what

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<v Speaker 1>the heck, what do you have to lose? And you

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<v Speaker 1>do have something to lose from taking hydroxy chloric quin

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<v Speaker 1>indiscriminately with zinc. I don't think there's a whole lot

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<v Speaker 1>of danger. It's not proven to do anything for you.

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<v Speaker 1>But the President again is saying, well, we're in a crisis,

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<v Speaker 1>and in the absence of proof that it doesn't, in

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<v Speaker 1>the absence of proof that it's gonna harm me, I

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<v Speaker 1>might as well take it. And that's not really great

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<v Speaker 1>medical science. It's not the way doctors approached their jobs

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<v Speaker 1>the care and treatment of patients in any regard. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's his philosophy. He's allowed to do it. A lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people are just concerned about the example he's setting.

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<v Speaker 1>Lenny Bernstein, health and medicine reporter at the Washington Post,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us. Oh you bet.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for having me. I'm Astar Ramirez and this

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<v Speaker 1>has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't forget that. For

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<v Speaker 1>today's big news stories, you can check me out on

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<v Speaker 1>the Daily Dive podcast every Monday to Friday, so follow

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