Covid-19 : should we worry about the treatment received by Donald Trump ?

On October 2, we learned that Donald Trump, President of the United States and his wife had tested positive for Covid-19.  They also began a quarantine and treatment period. 1.7 million likes, nearly a million retweets.

He received wishes of recovery and support of Joe Biden the current Democrat candidate for the White House as well as many other expressions of sympathy from around the world.

Two health statements six hours apart

The White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted 13 hours back about the president's health on 2 October.

In that tweet, she also published a health report from Sean P. Conley's the President’s doctor (a military, trained osteopath and emergency physician), indicating that the President had received treatment with polyclonal antibodies, zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and aspirin. This statement of health is written "in the afternoon" of October 2^nd .  The Health update was hand signed by the President's doctor.

A few hours later or around 11:30 p.m. (ET) - a new white house tweet reports that the President has begun a treatment with remdesivir. Simultaneously a message from Donald Trump himself stating he was fine. This additional statement update was not hand signed by the president's doctor.

In the last few hours, several media report that the President would have had trouble breathing and was very tired.

Who is Kayleigh McEnany?

The White House press secretary has not always supported Donald Trump. Before becoming a supporter, she was highly critical of him declaring that "Donald Trump showed himself to be a showman" and it was "unhappy" and "non authentic" to call him a Republican. She started supporting Trump after receiving advice from a fellow lawyer as “it would be wise to be an early supporter for "a smart, young Harvard graduate" looking for a career in politics.    

On June 29, 2020, she stated, "Hospital patients treated with Remdesivir do not find its cost ($3120) high."  On September 3, 2020, she added, "Here at the White House, we have more than 270 clinical trials, 570 at the planning and effective treatment stage that we know, such as dexamethasone and remedivir.  »

Numerous questions are raised about the president's health and the treatment he is receiving.

Firstly, the treatment communicated at 5pm was administered in the afternoon. It is therefore surprising not to have waited to observe the effect on the physiological variables of the President's health. Data that are unknown at this time.

Secondly, the administration of intravenous Remdesivir some six hours after taking the treatment is surprising on several counts :

• The messages indicated that the President was fine and did not need oxygen,
• He received a first treatment without waiting to observe the effects of that treatment,
• The remdesivir is known to have adverse interactions  with other treatments. Several incidents have been noted in studies on its effectiveness and its significant side effects, including kidneys and liver damage. Gilead, its manufacturer, not only had to modify the protocol for administering this drug several times, but also removed its request for reimbursement  in France from the HAS (Health Authority). The HAS had conditioned the reimbursement on the submission of raw data on clinical trials and side effects by October 2020.

FranceSoir suggested very early on that Gilead may have hidden the toxicity of the remesivir, and warned about the strong reactivity of this drug that could induce medical interactions with the treatment administered a few hours earlier.

A glaring inconsistency appears, and one is entitled to question the president's actual state of health or the medical advice he received.  In essence, the modification of treatment so quickly along the ways raises more questions than it provides answers.

Six hours ago, the president may not have been as well as we are told, and one would therefore have grounds to worry about his health. Could his condition have worsened to the point that a treatment based on the remdesivir is given to him, contradicting his tweet some eight hours ago?

Would the president's doctor not be as serene or confident in the initial diagnosis to change treatment so rapidly? It would be surprising that his doctor would have had to treat many Covid19 cases. Therefore, it is likely that he would have sought advice from Dr. Fauci of NIAID, a long-time supporter of Remdesivir. Dr. Fauci is known to have been in opposition to the President’s view on the health policy in the treatment of the epidemic.

We’re also one month away from the presidential elections. Political observers will not fail to provide an interpretation of the impact on the campaign. While other observers will question the health and treatment received by the President.

These two communications, so close to each other, raise questions beyond the actual state of health of the President, about the treatments administered and again on the role that the Gilead may have played.