SKEPTICISM ZAPS BLOOD PLASMA THERAPY VS COVID-19

A day before Republicans convene to nominate him for a second term, President Donald Trump spent Sunday (Monday, August 24, 2020 in Manila) promoting a potential treatment of COVID-19 using blood plasma, David Jackson wrote for USA TODAY.

Trump called reporters to the White House to announce his administration has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for treatment using blood plasma, though more than 70,000 patients have already received it on an experimental basis since May 1 but there has been no large-scale study to back up claims that it can cure COVID-19. "This is a powerful therapy," Trump said, describing the authorization as "a very historic breakthrough." When asked why blood plasma suddenly became a therapy against COVID-19 after FDA said it still was not, Trump walked out of the briefing.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical analyst at CNN, criticized Trump for jumping up and down over the EUA days after he accused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of being part of imaginary deep state out to topple him. Gupta said no randomized tests have been conducted to test the efficacy of blood plasma as treatment for COVID-19, while others said the FDA is trying to humor Trump. Rushing up some kind of cure for COVID-19 could lead to dangerous treatments of some patients, critics said.

"President Trump, again, puts his political gains ahead of public health," said Benjamin Corb, public affairs director with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.