Last last week, a study came out that posited to show what anyone paying attention already knew. Namely, that the drug hydroxychloroquine does appear to help coronavirus patients when taken early in the infection in conjunction with other drugs. You would think such information would be relatively uncontroversial. Anything that helps people recover from the virus should be welcome news.

But because Donald Trump touted the drug early on, mostly in April, the media have spent months trashing it and feverishly reporting on flawed studies that claim the drug not only doesn’t work, but that it kills people. In fact, you’d think hydroxychloroquine was one of the most dangerous drugs on earth, not a drug that’s been around for decades and used to treat a variety of illnesses.

As I reported here and here, the two studies that supposedly proved hydroxychloroquine wasn’t effective and was dangerous were rife with problems. One was so bad that Lancet had to retract it. That study had been used by several nations to cease use of the drug. Another from the United Kingdom possibly administered the wrong dosage, leading to a 10% higher death rate than other countries.

Needless to say, hydroxychloroquine has been ridiculously politicized by a media that is obsessed with sniping at Trump. In the end, it probably cost people their lives.

Drew Holden put out a thread to make sure no one forgets how they’ve covered this issue.

And of course their key voices also chimed in. Here’s @brianstelter.

Any follow up on this one, Stelt? pic.twitter.com/El307vu9UT

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 3, 2020

Their key voices joined the fight, too. Here’s @chrislhayes. pic.twitter.com/8AGERGC3Bp

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 3, 2020

@thedailybeast had some thoughts that haven’t held up well. pic.twitter.com/TAIicA2Cse

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 3, 2020

And formerly funny man @StephenAtHome.

The death of comedy because woke evangelizing gets more eyeballs is really sad. pic.twitter.com/qtCryr9soW

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 3, 2020

And who could forget this amazing take from @michelleinbklyn, who had recently learned that treatments have side effects. pic.twitter.com/qMn2z7fWId

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 3, 2020

“Wow” I need, @Yamiche. But don’t let editorializing get in the way of you doing your job. pic.twitter.com/tGAl8GFP5U

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 3, 2020

As per usual, I’m not going to post the entire thread and encourage you to go read the whole thing. Make sure and follow Drew, as he does excellent “receipt” threads on at least a weekly basis.

None of what the media did here was necessary. They could have just kept their mouth’s shut and not been incredibly biased. But that’s not who they are. It’s orange man bad all the time, even if it means spreading false information and hysteria over a drug that millions take every day. Does hydroxychloroquine have side effects? Sure, every drug does. Will it harm people if it’s given to patients on their death bed with preexisting heart conditions? It appears so, but that’s never been a secret.

Instead of focusing on what doctors around the world were reporting, i.e. that the drug helps early on, typically prior to hospitalization, the media acted like taking the drug was a death sentence and touted misleading studies showing it was ineffective treating people already in advanced stages of the disease. Even Fox News’ Neil Cavuto gave an impassioned warning to his viewers, saying that the drug “will kill you.”

How many people might be alive today if the media had simply kept an even keel on the matter? We’ll never know. Treatments for a virus shouldn’t be a political football, but it shows the media simply have no shame. Trump could support a cure for cancer, and they’d go to the mat telling people it’ll melt their brain.