Kaitlyn D’Onofrio

DocwireNews

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had some thoughts on <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/future-of-medicine/trump-signs-legislation-aiming-to-take-on-opioid-crisis/">President Donald Trump&rsquo;s</a> admission that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine to protect himself from <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/home-page-picks/the-covid-19-pandemic-us-unemployment-rate-soars-to-almost-15-worst-since-great-depression-is-coronavirus-sexually-transmitted-and-more/">COVID-19</a>.During a White House roundtable event, Trump said he has been taking the antimalaria drug, also used to treat <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/rheumatology-picks/heres-how-rheumatic-patients-were-affected-during-the-early-days-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/">rheumatoid arthritis and lupus</a>.&ldquo;A lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy, a lot of good things have come out. You&rsquo;d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers, before you catch it. The frontline workers, many, many are taking it. I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it,&rdquo; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/18/trump-says-he-takes-hydroxychloroquine-to-prevent-coronavirus-infection.html">the president confirmed</a>. He said he initiated it &ldquo;a couple of weeks ago.&rdquo;[do_widget id=mashup_multiwidget-28]&ldquo;Because I think it&rsquo;s good. I&rsquo;ve heard a lot of good stories. And if it&rsquo;s not good, &hellip; I&rsquo;m not gonna get hurt by it,&rdquo; he said.Several studies have recently found that <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/rheumatology-picks/hydroxychloroquine-does-not-improve-mortality-in-covid-19-patients-in-study-again/">hydroxychloroquine</a> did not benefit COVID-19 patients. And the doctor who was in charge of the agency doing research for a COVID-19 vaccine <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/rheumatology-picks/government-doctor-in-charge-of-covid-19-vaccine-research-was-ousted-for-challenging-trumps-hydroxychloroquine-claims-report/">was allegedly dismissed</a> because he challenged Trump&rsquo;s claims that <a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/rheumatology/what-you-need-to-know-about-hydroxychloroquine-and-covid-19-prevention/">hydroxychloroquine</a> was a proven promising treatment for the virus.<a href="https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/rheumatology-picks/are-arthritis-drugs-the-holy-grail-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-trials-rush-to-find-solutions/">Related Story: Are Arthritis Drugs the Holy Grail of the COVID-19 Pandemic? Trials Rush to Find Solutions</a>Pelosi expressed disdain for the president&rsquo;s choice on CNN&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/05/19/pelosi-trump-weight-hydroxychloroquine-ac360-bts-vpx.cnn">Anderson Cooper 360</a>.When asked by Cooper what her reaction was to Trump&rsquo;s hydroxychloroquine declaration, Pelosi responded, &ldquo;As far as the president is concerned, he&rsquo;s our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientist[s], especially in his age group, and his, shall we say, weight group &hellip; &lsquo;morbidly obese,&rsquo; they say. So I think it&rsquo;s not a good idea.&rdquo;Standing at 6&rsquo;3&rdquo;, Trump reportedly weighs 243 pounds, placing his body mass index at around 30.3 kg/m2, which would place him in the &ldquo;obese&rdquo; category, but not &ldquo;morbidly obese.&rdquo;<h2>What Do The Experts Say About Trump&rsquo;s Choice?</h2>Pelosi was not alone in disagreeing with the president&rsquo;s decision.Steven E. Nissen, MD, chief academic officer of the Miller Family Heart, Vascular &amp; Thoracic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-covid-coronavirus.html">The New York Times</a> that Trump&rsquo;s declaration could be dangerous to the public.&ldquo;My concern would be that the public not hear comments about the use of hydroxychloroquine and believe that taking this drug to prevent Covid-19 infection is without hazards. In fact, there are serious hazards,&rdquo; he said.Scott Solomon, MD, told The Times that the decision was to be made by Trump and his physician; however, the Harvard Medical School professor of medicine added, &ldquo;But what is irresponsible is the example he is setting.&rdquo;Manny Alvarez, MD, senior managing editor of Fox News&rsquo; health news, echoed Dr. Solomon&rsquo;s sentiments. When asked on air why Trump is taking hydroxychloroquine, he said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. Your guess is as good as mine. I found it to be highly irresponsible for the president to have come out and make that statement. And I would like to hear from the White House physician, to come out tomorrow and explain to me what has changed in a week-and-a-half or two weeks for the president to take this medication, when all the data that has been coming out repetitively has shown that there&rsquo;s really not a major benefit. And most hospitals, including mine, we&rsquo;re not using chloroquine in the treatment of COVID patients at the present time, and we have one of the largest populations of COVID admissions in our medical center.&rdquo;The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/137250/download">issued a safety communication</a> warning of possible abnormal heart rhythms that could be caused by hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.&ldquo;These risks may increase when these medicines are combined with other medicines known to prolong the QT interval, including the antibiotic azithromycin, which is also being used in some COVID-19 patients without FDA approval for this condition,&rdquo; the FDA added.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing editor of Fox News&rsquo; health news, says that it is &ldquo;highly irresponsible&rdquo; for Trump to claim that he&rsquo;s now taking hydroxychloroquine.
He also wants the White House physician to explain what&rsquo;s changed since studies have shown no benefits. <a href="https://t.co/QAxYVTM1kG">pic.twitter.com/QAxYVTM1kG</a>
&mdash; Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) <a href="https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1262508060410613765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a>
</blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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‘Morbidly Obese’ Trump Taking Hydroxychloroquine ‘Not A Good Idea,’ Says Nancy Pelosi—What Do Experts Think?

COVID-19

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had some thoughts on President Donald Trump’s admission that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine to protect himself from COVID-19. ...

‘Morbidly Obese’ Trump Taking Hydroxychloroquine ‘Not A Good Idea,’ Says Nancy Pelosi—What

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