Dear Editor:
I've been reading some people complaining about Trump taking hydroxychloroquine. "This is dangerous, this could kill him, this is reckless, he should trust the experts and science." What is interesting is that all the people complaining about this are totally ignoring everything, but the name of the drug. One cannot simply go to the corner store and buy hydroxychloroquine off the shelf. It also is not a fish tank cleaner and it is very safe to use. It has been used since around 1956 for several diseases. So Trump had to have a prescription from a medical doctor to get the medicine. Next, people are completely ignoring science. Most studies have shown it helps and there is evidence to suggest that it works as a preventative. Studies are still ongoing but the president is in no danger nor is anyone else taking the drug. There are side effects but it is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, "the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system." What is amazing is that Democrat U.S. Rep. Karen Whitsett (Detroit) praised Trump for recommending hydroxychloroquine and she touts it as saving her life.
COVID-19 patients who die often do so because the immune system response to this virus can also destroy lung tissue and cause inflammation. The end result can be pneumonia. That means the air sacs in the lungs become inflamed and filled with fluid, making it harder to breathe. How hydroxychloroquine normally works is that it modulates the immune system, which in autoimmune diseases like lupus, is overcharged and attacking normally healthy tissues. Hydroxychloroquine decreases inflammation while not putting the patient at risk for other infections. Researchers have noted that the drug blocks malaria from entering cells and that it might have a similar effect on the virus.
So the president is at very little if any risk in taking the drug. Evidence suggests it can help once infected and other evidence suggests it might even be a preventative, which is believed by many in the medical community around the world, as they are taking it too as a preventative. So if it doesn't hurt and it might help, why not? Besides, one can always consider him a famous test subject.