Pharmacists Push Back Big Time Against Media-Driven Hysteria on Dexamethasone Treatment for Trump

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President Donald J. Trump works in his conference room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Oct. 3, 2020, after testing positive for COVID-19. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
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During his Sunday press briefing from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley disclosed to the journalists in attendance that President Trump had been given dexamethasone as part of his treatment for the Wuhan coronavirus:

Dr. Conley: “Over the course of his illness, the president has experienced two episodes of transient drops in his oxygen saturation. We debated the reasons for this and whether we’d even intervene. Is was the determination of the team based predominantly on the timeline from the initial diagnosis that we initiate dexamethasone.”

[…]

Dr. Brian Garibaldi: “In response to transient low oxygen levels, as Dr. Conley has discussed, we did initiate dexamethasone therapy, and he received his first dose of that yesterday, and our plan is to continue that for the time being.”

Predictably, the mainstream media pounced and seized on this news as supposed “evidence” that Trump’s condition was far more serious and grave than his medical team had led anyone to believe.

Here are just a few examples:

Politico: “The announcement concerned medical experts because the drug is typically recommended only for patients with severe or critical cases of Covid-19.”

L.A. Times: “Experts had said previously that a decision to put Trump on the drug would be a major development. […] The disclosure that Trump is receiving dexamethasone is a clear signal that his illness is a serious one, said Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.”

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NY Times: “Use of Dexamethasone to Treat Trump Suggests Severe Covid-19, Experts Say – Many of the measures cited by his doctors are reserved for patients severely affected by the coronavirus.”

Ben Walsh, a senior finance reporter for Barron’s, was one of many who glommed on to media reports on how Trump being given dexamethasone was proof that his condition was far more severe than we knew, tweeting out these excerpts from the Times’ piece:

The problem with many of these “reports” about the use of the steroid drug to treat Trump is that they rely more on the opinions of random physicians (including one who just happens to be a Trump critic) and not pharmacists who know far more about the drug and what prescribing it for patients actually does and does not mean.

Matt Dawson, who is affectionately known as “Twitter’s pharmacist”, was one of many to weigh in:

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Here are responses from other pharmacists to suggestions being made about Trump being prescribed dexamethasone:

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Imagine if the mainstream media had made a concerted effort to talk to people who prescribe this drug every day for patients instead of making beelines to “medical experts” who tell hysterical reporters looking for a “Weekend at Bernie’s” angle to push what they want to hear?

As someone who has observed and analyzed media reporting for well over 20 years, there are few times I’ve been as disgusted with how they’ve treated a story as I have been with their unhinged hysterics regarding Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis.

They have done nothing since the story broke but to attempt to craft a narrative that Trump is on his deathbed and doesn’t have the ability to lead the country. They haven’t approached it from the angle of “let’s find out how he’s doing and report on it.” They’ve approached it from the “we know he’s got to be seriously ill so let’s set about proving it” angle — and they’ve done so without any evidence.

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I even saw one reporter (sorry, I didn’t save the tweet) over the weekend note the “irony” of how positions had been reversed and how Biden was no longer in his basement while Trump was in the hospital battling a deadly disease and unable to campaign, which in my view inadvertently gave insight as to why the media has been pushing the “Trump is seriously ill, family members are being called in to say their goodbyes” angle from the get-go.

There are no lows to which some in the media will not stoop. Their behavior in “reporting” on this story has been nothing short of appalling.

Related/Flashback –>> Pharmacist Unleashes Hell on Wuhan Virus Social Distancing Hypocrites: So ‘Riots Are Just Cool’ Now?

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