The press dispenses erroneous medical advice while condemning erroneous medical advice…

You just knew when President Trump made the announcement that he would be taking doses of Hydroxychloroquine as a preventative step the press would lose its mind over this. Our media has been especially imbalanced over the use of HCQ in regards to the coronavirus outbreak. All because it has been recommended by Trump, journalists have only been able to report on the negative aspects of the drug. We only see reports on the dangers it poses, how it is unproven, and yes, how it is reckless of Trump to recommend people take it.

The very fact that the drug is only available through prescription, on the recommendation of a medical professional, is a detail the press seems incapable of absorbing into its bloodstream. Now that the President is actively taking HCQ the very same people who have demanded we only listen to medical experts are dispensing a medical diagnosis and declare Trump is being irresponsible. Politico has a piece where its headline declares this is ”A crazy thing to do,’’ and then manages to invalidate itself in the process.

The article, co-written by David Lin and Zachary Brennan, is long on hysterics but very short on medicinal details. That the piece only harbors negatives while pretending there is no medical basis or support for taking HCQ for coronavirus applications is expected these days from the media. Just look at the opening paragraph to get the full taste of the hyperbole.

President Donald Trump’s startling admission Monday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine despite testing negative for the coronavirus alarmed health experts, who cautioned that people who follow his lead risk serious heart problems and other complications from the decades-old drug.

Just to pick apart their hyperventilating prose – to call this ‘’startling’’ shows them falling right into Trump’s trap, something the press rushes into on the regular. Those health experts that were ‘’alarmed’’ by this announcement were those whom Politico managed to find to bolster its position. And to warn people off of following Trump’s lead displays an abject ignorance — or willful avoidance — of the reality that people cannot rush out and begin taking HCQ over the counter of their own will. This exposes the press condemning untrained medical advice while dispensing the same.

In highlighting the dangers — and ignoring the benefits — Politico’s writers manage to invalidate themselves in the process. They appear to have had to search far to find the right support for their position, finding David Juurlink, head of clinical pharmacology at the University of Toronto, who provided the alarming quote for their headline.“That seems to me to be a crazy thing to do. If the drug had no side effects, it would be a reasonable thing to do.” Then Politico makes the assessment that Trump is particularly at risk, because of underlying heart issues he has, based on his White House Medical records.

It is only later, after this hype, that they manage to quote Trump’s own doctor, Sean Conley, who states the potential benefits of the President taking HCQ outweighed the risks. There is something else Conley has on his side — Trump’s full slate of records, and personal examinations to make the proper diagnosis. He is not sequestered in another country declaring the application of the drug ‘’crazy’’ — and he is not a pair of journalists making best-guess patient assessments.

But in all of this talk of dangers and risks they also completely deflate this hype with their other critique. They are concerned that Trump’s words would be a problem because it will cause a run on the drug, creating a shortage of HCQ for the millions of patients who currently take it as a regular treatment. That means that millions are taking this ”dangerous’’ and ”unproven’’ drug — one that has been on the market for decades now.

Then, just to perfectly wrap up their backward thought process, the Politico duo mentions that touting HCQ could pull people away from another possible drug treatment, the recently hyped drug Remdesivir. The amusement here is this drug from Gilead has not had any clinical trials, is barely available, and costs into the thousands of dollars for treatments — all negatives which do not apply to the generic HCQ, made by numerous companies.

This is the way of our media complex these days. They call for us to listen to experts, while dispensing medical misinformation, ignoring the numerous medical experts who encourage HCQ use as they criticize those who supposedly forgo medical advice, and resort to recommendations based solely on political positioning. When it comes to Politico reporting, it is best to get a second opinion.