Trump’s FDA chief apologizes for hyping unproven treatment on eve of Republican National Convention – By Roger Sollenberger (Salon) / Aug 25 2020
“The criticism is entirely justified,” Dr. Stephen Hahn says after his coronavirus press conference with Trump
Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), apologized Monday for overstating the benefits of convalescent plasma as a coronavirus treatment during a press conference with President Donald Trump one day earlier.
“I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified,” Hahn said in a thread of tweets posted in the middle of the first night of the Republican National Convention. “What I should have said better is that the data show [sic] a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction.”
At the Sunday press conference, Trump declared the FDA’s “historic” emergency use authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma to be a treatment “breakthrough.” The president also claimed that plasma “had an incredible rate of success” for treating COVID-19 patients, despite the fact that his own scientists and the FDA itself had expressed more reserved assessments.
The timing of the emergency announcement — one day before the Republican National Convention, and days after Trump alluded multiple times to “deep state” conspiracy theories of intentional election sabotage by the FDA — raised questions about the approval process. It also put Hahn in the crosshairs of critics who saw him as appeasing Trump politically.
Continue to article: https://www.salon.com/2020/08/25/trumps-fda-chief-apologizes-for-hyping-unproven-treatment-on-eve-of-republican-national-convention/
