TRUMP AND HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE

Trump wants a quick fix to the coronavirus crisis because its effect on the economy and his poor handling of the problem are hurting him politically. So he is promoting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment.. He said, "What do you have to lose?" Hydroxychloroquine has potential side effects. It can be toxic to the eyes, cause abnormal heart rhythm, or severe abdominal pain. One has to weigh the benefit of a medicine against its risk. That is done through clinical trials where the medicine is given to half the patients and a placebo is given to the other half, and neither the patients or the doctors know which patients are in which half until the study ends and the code is broken. To tell people to take a medicine willy nilly based on a hunch without knowing if it has a real chance of benefit is creating an unnecessary risk. But that's the way Trump makes all his decisions. That's why he failed so often in business and had to launder money for kleptomaniac dictators and mobsters to stay afloat. That's why he has done such a terrible job as president.