A second briefing on Donald Trump's medical condition after he was flown to Walter Reed for treatment of COVID-19 was held Sunday morning, and was not much more revealing than the first.
We did get some new information. First, that Trump has had at least two episodes of hypoxia, or low blood oxygen, which required oxygen administration. And White House doctor Sean Conley stated that Trump was now taking not just remdesivir and a Regeneron-developed monoclonal antibody "cocktail," but dexamethasone, a steroid recommended only for the most serious COVID-19 cases. That and other elements of Conley's description of Trump's condition were alarming, to expert observers, because they suggest Trump's current status is considerably more serious than either Conley or the White House has claimed.
It's possible that Trump's doctors are, perhaps irresponsibly, unnecessarily dosing Trump with potentially dangerous drugs on his own demand, in hopes that something in the mix will allow him to recover faster than most patients with his symptoms. But it hardly seems likely.
Some reactions and threads, from experts and others:
Chair of psychiatry at Tufts, past president American Psychiatric Association. 👇 https://t.co/tIE4uI5SrA
— Jeffrey Flier (@jflier) October 4, 2020
Sanjay Gupta says doctors at Walter Reed are throwing "the kitchen sink" at Trump, feeding him 3 different "serious" medications, one of which is experimental in nature. He suggests this is far more serious than what Conley is letting on.
— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) October 4, 2020
1/ What did we learn about the President's health today?
- He had a fever and oxygen saturation level under 94% on Friday, which prompted his transfer to Walter Reed Hospital.
- His oxygen saturation dropped Saturday AM. He was started on dexamethasone. pic.twitter.com/1Nq2xY6Dpy— Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA (@celinegounder) October 4, 2020
3) here is NIH’s official guideline. Dexamethasone is a serious drug. Not for light or moderate infection anymore. pic.twitter.com/aN6RT9XwCI
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) October 4, 2020
2) Again, WHO guidance document on dexamethasone clearly speaks for itself. The WHO even says *DO NOT* give it to someone not serious or critical. #COVID19 #CovidCaughtTrump pic.twitter.com/DDngnCfzmI
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) October 4, 2020
And dexamethasone...
There's a lot to say here, but let me quote the actual article:https://t.co/yrpqH7Y2pZ— Craig Spencer MD MPH (@Craig_A_Spencer) October 4, 2020
In patients hospitalized with Covid-19, the use of dexamethasone resulted in lower 28-day mortality among those who were receiving either invasive mechanical ventilation or oxygen alone at randomization but not among those receiving no respiratory support https://t.co/cycWC6rJCG
— Shelley Shenton (@shelleyshenton) October 4, 2020
...To be clear, the "expected findings" on a chest CT is NORMAL. If it was normal, he should say that. Anything else should have been described.
(The only semi-benign interpretation would be if the prez has a known chronic finding – like a benign nodule – that was seen)...(3/8)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) October 4, 2020
What’s it all mean? We don’t know, but it’s not good. Trump’s doctors seem to be hiding the true severity of Trump’s condition—or, far less likely, are overmedicating him for unknown reasons. Because this White House has relentlessly lied about even the smallest trivialities, over the last four years, we can’t take anything said now at face value. Most or all of it is false. The treatment plan as announced, however, doesn’t mesh with the rosy claims being made about Trump’s current condition.
Published with permission from Daily Kos.
