Posted by Michael Wonder on 25 Aug 2020
F.D.A. ‘grossly misrepresented’ blood plasma data, scientists say
24 August 2020 - Many experts — including a scientist who worked on the Mayo Clinic study — were bewildered about where a key statistic came from.
At a news conference on Sunday announcing the emergency approval of blood plasma for hospitalised COVID-19 patients, President Trump and two of his top health officials cited the same statistic: that the treatment had reduced deaths by 35%.
Mr. Trump called it a “tremendous” number. His health and human services secretary, Alex M. Azar II, a former pharmaceutical executive, said, “I don’t want you to gloss over this number.” And Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said 35 out of 100 COVID-19 patients “would have been saved because of the administration of plasma.”
