President Trump on Sunday authorized the FDA to use convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients, calling it a ‘breakthrough treatment.’
“This is a powerful therapy that transfuses very very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection,” Trump said.
“Based on the science and the data, the FDA has made the independent determination that the treatment is safe and very effective,” Trump said urging all recovered COVID-19 patients to donate their blood plasma.
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President @realDonaldTrump: The FDA has issued emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma pic.twitter.com/53WfaJsvuz
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) August 23, 2020
FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn on Sunday hit back at a liberal reporter who downplayed the plasma breakthrough treatment: “You couldn’t say its very effective just yet.”
“If you’re one of those 35 out of 100 people who… survives as a result of [the treatment], this is pretty significant for that person & their family,” Dr. Hahn said.
WATCH:
Great answer from Dr. Hahn to reporter downplaying today’s plasma breakthrough
“You couldn’t say its very effective just yet”
“If you’re one of those 35 out of 100 people who… survives as a result of [the treatment], this is pretty significant for that person & their family” pic.twitter.com/aG71FolxsA
— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) August 23, 2020
Fox News reported:
President Trump on Sunday granted an emergency authorization for the usage of convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus patients, dubbing it a “major breakthrough.”
The treatment takes convalescent plasma from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and is rich in antibodies. Though it may provide benefits to those fighting the virus, the evidence has been inconclusive as to how it works or how best to administer it.
More than 64,000 patients in the U.S. have been given convalescent plasma, a century-old approach to fend off flu and measles before vaccines. It’s a go-to tactic when new diseases come along, and history suggests it works against some, but not all, infections.
There’s no solid evidence yet that it fights the coronavirus and, if so, how best to use it. The FDA, in announcing the emergency authorization for convalescent plasma said its benefits “outweigh the known and potential risks of the product and that there are no adequate, approved, and available alternative treatments.”
