Stethoscope

Despite getting briefed daily from the best doctors and scientists at the NIH and CDC, Donald Trump has made more poor medical decisions than any President in US History. Every day on national TV programs and rallies during the Covid pandemic he has directly lied to the American public and tried to twist or misconstrue every single piece of medical advice he gets his hands on explains Matt Boente MD. There are some very clear examples of his inept medical acumen such as saying that “inhaling Clorox” might be a legitimate way to combat Covid-19.  He lied about the efficacy and safety hydrochloroquin and convalescent plasma and consistently refuses to wear a mask. Another example of his poor understanding of medical science was on display when he dismissed the soldiers injured in the Iranian missile attacks as having mild headaches when in fact they suffered traumatic brain injuries which later in life can cause post-traumatic stress-disorder (PTSD), Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), anxiety, depression, and suicide. The list of his medical blunders goes on. A real doctor would have their medical license revoked for asinine behavior like this.

Essentially, the President makes medical decisions all the time that directly affect the medical care for hundreds of thousands of people. More importantly than the examples above is a Washington Post article that recently reported that President Trump knew about the dangers about Covid-19 on February 7 five full weeks before acknowledging this to the public. That’s not only quite stupid, it’s criminal. It’s all on tape and now in a new book, “Rage” written by Mr. Robert Woodward.  If we look at dates and facts it’s clear that his irresponsible behavior cost tens of thousands of American lives maybe more.  Most of the country’s large cities and states didn’t close down until mid-March about 5 weeks later. Do the math. Why didn’t he act in early February?

Many now fear that Trump will meddle with the interpretation of the results of the ongoing vaccine trails. Furthermore, his actions have sowed doubt about vaccine data and have undermined the public’s confidence in the FDA and vaccines in general. That is a very dangerous place to be as a country. I practiced oncology as a physician-scientist for 27 years and worked extensively in clinical trial development in collaboration with the NIH and the FDA. Let me say that, in my entire career, I’ve never worked with a more brilliant, honest, and hardworking group of physicians as those at the NCI and the FDA. These are the best medical minds in the world serving their country and believe me it’s not for the money. Based on my personal experience, these men and women are of the highest moral character and as a whole have more knowledge and integrity than any group of physicians or scientists on this planet.  I say this as I feel the pulse of the country rise regarding the upcoming vaccine trials and their results. 

Trust me on a few things. I believe that the principles of the scientific method and rigorous scrutiny of the data are currently ongoing at the FDA. One thing is for sure, hazards ratios and p-values don’t lie and neither does Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the NIH’s Allergy and Immunology Division for the past three decades. I’m saying it first. Dr. Fauci will go down in history as one of the greatest physicians of all time (Aides, Ebola, and Covid-19). Imagine what the country would be like if no other physician stood up to President Trump about Covid-19 falsisms that he spewed. Dr. Fauci speaks the truth. I also know that he would rather resign than succumb to President’s desire to have an “effective vaccine” by November even if the data isn’t robust and compelling. Studies of this type have “built in” stopping points to analyze efficacy which are pre-determined before the trial starts.  Statistically speaking if the vaccine isn’t working the trial may be stopped early. Similarly if the vaccine works better than predicted the trial could be stopped early and the vaccine could receive accelerated approval from the FDA. Most likely, however, trials will run their full course and we’ll just have to wait for the data to mature. That’s science. The President nor Dr. Fauci nor anyone else can accelerate this process. The Trump administration should know by now that it can’t mess with mother nature. 

Here’s how to proceed if you’re the average lay person trying to interpret what’s really going on with the Covid 19 pandemic. Please Listen to Dr. Fauci. If he resigns suddenly, watch out! If he endorses a particular vaccine, take it. Fauci’s decision will be data driven not politically influenced and you can take that to the bank. Joe Biden would never try to tell Dr. Fauci or any physician what to say or when to say it, and he would never try to influence the results of a clinical trial. You can take that to the bank as well.