Donald Trump announces plasma treatment authorised for COVID-19
Washington: President Donald Trump on Sunday announced emergency authorisation to treat COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma a move he called a breakthrough, one of his top health officials called promising and other health experts said needs more study before it's celebrated.
The announcement came after White House officials complained there were politically motivated delays by the Food and Drug Administration in approving a vaccine and therapeutics for the disease that has upended Trump's reelection chances.
On the eve of the Republican National Convention, Trump put himself at the center of the FDA's announcement of the authorisation at a news conference Sunday evening. The authorisation makes it easier for some patients to obtain the treatment but is not the same as full FDA approval.
The blood plasma, taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and rich in antibodies, may provide benefits to those battling the disease. But the evidence so far has not been conclusive about whether it works, when to administer it and what dose is needed.
In a letter describing the emergency authorisation, the chief scientist for the FDA, Denise Hinton, said: COVID-19 convalescent plasma should not be considered a new standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Additional data will be forthcoming from other analyses and ongoing, well-controlled clinical trials in the coming months.
But Trump had made clear to aides that he was eager to showcase good news in the battle against the virus, and the timing allowed him to head into his convention with momentum.
He and aides billed it as a major" development and used the White House briefing room to make the announcement.
Trump also displayed some rare discipline in the evening news conference, sticking to his talking points, deferring to the head of the FDA, Stephen Hahn, and only taking three questions from reporters.
The White House had grown agitated with the pace of the plasma approval. The accusations of an FDA slowdown, which were presented without evidence, were just the latest assault from Trump's team on what he refers to as the deep state bureaucracy.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows did not deal in specifics, but said that we've looked at a number of people that are not being as diligent as they should be in terms of getting to the bottom of it.
This president is about cutting red tape, Meadows said in an interview Sunday on This Week" on ABC.
He had to make sure that they felt the heat. If they don't see the light, they need to feel the heat because the American people are suffering.
During Sunday's 18-minute press conference, Trump said he thought there had been a logjam at the FDA over granting the emergency authorisation.
He alleged there are people at the FDA that can see things being held up ... and that's for political reasons. Dr Joshua Sharfstein said the statement, and Hahn's silence while Trump said it, was disgraceful.
The FDA commissioner basically allowed the president to mischaracterise the decision and attack the integrity of FDA employees. I was horrified, said Sharfstein, a vice dean at John Hopkins University's school of public health who was a top FDA official during the Obama administration.
This is a promising therapy that has not been fully established, he said.
The push on Sunday came a day after Trump tweeted sharp criticism on the process to treat the virus, which has killed more than 175,000 Americans and imperiled his reelection chances.
The White House has sunk vast resources into an expedited process to develop a vaccine, and Trump aides have been banking on it being an October surprise that could help the president make up ground in the polls.
The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics, Trump tweeted.
"Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives! Earlier this month, Mayo Clinic researchers reported a strong hint that blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors helps other infected patients recover. But it wasn't considered proof.
More than 70,000 patients in the US have been given convalescent plasma, a century-old approach to fend off flu and measles before vaccines. It's a go-to tactic when new diseases come along, and history suggests it works against some, but not all, infections.
The Mayo Clinic reported preliminary data from 35,000 coronavirus patients treated with plasma, and said there were fewer deaths among people given plasma within three days of diagnosis, and also among those given plasma containing the highest levels of virus-fighting antibodies.
But it wasn't a formal study. The patients were treated in different ways in hospitals around the country as part of an FDA program designed to speed access to the experimental therapy.
That expanded access program tracks what happens to the recipients, but it cannot prove the plasma and not other care they received was the real reason for improvement.
Administration officials, in a call with reporters Sunday, discussed a benefit for patients who were within three days of admission to a hospital and were not on a respirator, and were given 'high-titer' convalescent plasma containing higher concentrations of antibodies.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
