The media's hydroxychloroquine VA study coverage misses some key points
Why has hydroxychloroquine become a "weird, politicized war," as Guy Benson writes in Town Hall? Well, President Donald Trump championed it from the briefing room in passionate pleas, urging those who contract coronavirus to try the Malaria drug. "What do you have to lose?" he asked. When there wasn't uniformity from the doctors - Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx and others - on its effectiveness, the media pounced, looking for every possible angle to prove the drug was not only ineffective, but dangerous. We'll know a lot more, very soon - the first major clinical trial is being completed in New York on Monday (media darling Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the results so far were "promising). By next week, the story will have shifted dramatically based on these actual results.
But this week, we have a study that the media was all too eager to highlight, which showed data from the VA that were, on the surface, not promising for proponents of the drug. "More deaths, no benefit from Malaria drug in VA virus study," wrote the widely-shared AP story. Jake Tapper on CNN went further. "It could actually be harming patients," he said, a sentiment echoed in this viral tweet from Politico's Ben White. Except there were some major problems with the story that were being conveniently left out. | | The most glaring issue, first and foremost, is the study details - it wasn't randomized, not peer reviewed, and not even a clinical trial. The study describes it as a "retrospective analysis of data." What does that mean? The study looked at data from the United States Veterans Health Administration medical centers, of patients with COVID-19 who have either been discharged or died. Then it looked at how they were treated - whether with hydroxychloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, or neither. Then, it recorded the results. This is not a clinical trial, because there is no effort to account for external variables.
As the study itself notes, "Hydroxychloroquine, with or without azithromycin, was more likely to be prescribed to patients with more severe disease, as assessed by baseline ventilatory status and metabolic and hematologic parameters. Thus, as expected, increased mortality was observed in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine, both with and without azithromycin."
Of course - if a patient walks into a hospital with a mild case of coronavirus, they will not be given either drug. They don't need it. So the likelihood they recover from a mild case of coronavirus is far greater than if they had a more serious case. The study doesn't account for that fact. It also doesn't adjust for ages, different health risks, or whether patients were at different points in their COVID-19 recovery.
In fact, the study notes "selection bias" is possible. Don't you think it's important to note that the study only included men? Or that "the majority" were black men? Or that the average age was 65? These crucial elements were absent from nearly all media coverage. And that includes Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who has discussed the study and its results often on CNN over the past two days.
So yes, 27 patients out of 98 died with hydroxychloroquine, 25 patients out of 113 with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, 18 out of 158 without any. Clearly, hydroxychloroquin does not cure coronavirus. But does this information make you comfortable to leap to comments like CNN's SE Cupp tweeting, "When are we just going to say the president is personally responsible for American deaths?"
The media's anti-hydroxychloroquine reflex stems from their anti-Trump reflex. And it is an instinct that will continue to leave viewers without a full, truthful picture. As Guy Benson notes, 89% of doctors in America said they'd consider prescribing hydroxychloroquine. Perhaps it's not actually killing patients after all. | | Keeping Up With The Cuomos: A CNN Covid reality show
I think it's important to be transparent about our biases, so I will say up front - I like Chris Cuomo. I enjoyed working with him at CNN, think he means well, and find that he is generally thoughtful about his relationship with viewers. That doesn't mean I always agree with everything he does or says - and certainly over the past several weeks, there have been some eyebrow-raising moments as he has recovered from coronavirus. Last week I wrote about the circumstances surrounding an Easter incident where Cuomo and his family were at another of their properties, and where Chris had some sort of argument with a biker riding by, who yelled at Cuomo for breaking quarantine. The incident was mentioned on Cuomo's Sirius XM show, but not on his CNN show - so Monday night, when Cuomo suddenly exited his basement where he had been hosting the show for weeks, it was billed as his first time emerging from the hibernation. "The official reentry from the basement," said Cuomo, who wiped sweat from his forehead since he happened to have just finished a workout. The whole clip - filmed by Cuomo's daughter - belonged on a Bravo reality show, and not a CNN news program. It was an unnecessary, over-personalization of a global news story - and one that felt artificial if you knew the Easter story. But there are a lot more reality TV elements to how Cuomo has recovered from coronavirus than just this. | | Cuomo's wife, Cristina, is the founder and editor of a wellness blog called The Purist Online. And on the site, she has been documenting his coronavirus journey in intricate detail. Cristina also had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and has thankfully recovered too. In a blog post titled "The Cuomos' Corona Protocol, Week 3," readers are transported into what its like to recover from coronavirus, if you're a rich person living in the Hamptons. Cristina's self-treatment included a vitamin drip performed by a doctor in a "full hazmat outfit," a "body charger" suggested by an "energy specialist," and Clorox in her bath. Meanwhile, the food sounded pretty sweet. "Every day, Chris and I both ate an Ayurveda lunch from Corey de Rosa at Tapovana to-go in Bridgehampton," Cristina writes, and breaking down every single meal she and Chris ate - from filet mignon with broccoli rabe to "mashed mung daal, green chile and cilantro, all of which help remove environmental impurities."
In last week's blog, Cristina described the doctor she employed to help Chris - Dr. Linda Lancaster, from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dr. Lancaster - who has written for Goop - is the author of Harmonic Healing, and examined "a sample of Chris' hair" to see what she should prescribe for him. (The week 2 blog is great also because it gives a shout-out to actor Robert Downey Jr. at the end, "for the additional natural remedies like Lypo-Spheric vitamin C and B packets and lung cleansing formulas.")
What's also interesting is one of the vitamins prescribed by Dr. Linda - quinine. Both Cuomos took quinine daily as part of their recovery. What's quinine? From the NIH website: "Quinine was first recognized as a potent antimalarial agent hundreds of years ago. Since then, the beneficial effects of quinine and its more advanced synthetic forms, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, have been increasingly recognized in a myriad of other diseases in addition to malaria." In other words - Cuomo took a natural form of hydroxychloroquine to recover from coronavirus.
Look - I'm happy the Cuomos are doing better. Their son has been diagnosed with coronavirus now, and I'm glad to hear he's doing well too. This is a scary time. But perhaps a little less reality TV and a little more selfless news coverage could be what comes next. | | ❓❓How Did This Get Published❓❓: Politico's Trump voters are dying story In a new section of this newsletter, I'll occasionally ask the question... how did this get published? Today we'll dig into a Politico story by Christopher Cadelago with the headline: "Study: Elderly Trump voters dying of coronavirus could cost him in November." Now, this is a pretty gross premise for an article, but, it's the Trump Era of Journalism, and anything goes. The problem, however, is the first word in the headline: "study." What exactly is this study that the entire article is based on? Politico describes the study as originating from "a little-noticed public administration journal," which maybe should have been a clue not to base an entire article on its findings. Instead, Cadelago quotes a professor from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, who says, "The virus is killing more older voters, and in many states that's the key to a GOP victory." Of course, no one who follows the news even casually needs a study to tell them COVID-19 has killed more elderly people. But, as the headline notes, its killing so many elderly Trump voters it may "cost him in November." That seems far-fetched, until you see the data the study is based on. Let's take a single state. When you look at the actual study, you see the data used shows Pennsylvania coronavirus-related fatalities estimated at 190,000. That includes 152,000 estimated for 65+ residents. If you calculate the same percentage of votes spread among Democrats and Republicans in 2016, that would mean 13,680 more Republicans "would potentially perish." Two glaring problems here. First, Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes in 2016. But what's more important is that the 190,000 death estimate is wildly inaccurate. The IHME estimate currently projects just 2,700 deaths for Pennsylvania - a 70x difference. Meaning the difference in Republican vs. Democrats would be in the range of 200 people, going by the study's logic. Maybe Politico should leave the "little-noticed public administration journal" alone next time... | | | QUICK HITS
- Guy Benson of Town Hall fact-checks the Washington Post fact checkers - related to Rep. Dan Crenshaw's appearance on Bill Maher's show Friday.
- Vicky Ward has a juicy story at CNN about the COVID-19 "rule breakers" going to secret dinner parties - including a Democratic operative, movie producer and media executive in Washington, DC.
- The Hollywood Reporter has a really interesting story about producer Dana Brunetti, who sold his Ferraris and went survivalist post-coronavirus. | | WATCH IT... I'm always interested in what Vice is doing with their TV shows - they launched a new one yesterday with AOC as the first guest, "Seat at the Table," hosted by a really interesting progressive voice, Anand Giridhadaras. It's a tough time, technically, to launch a show, but I'd imagine Giridhadaras will be a heterodox voice in the media as the election cycle heats up this year.
HEAR IT... My wife and I loved the "Better Call Saul" finale on Monday, so I also loved the "Better Call Saul" recap on "The Watch" podcast - especially because it featured a fantastic interview with Tony Dalton, who plays Lalo.
READ IT... An incredible story about some incredible Americans - beautifully documented by the Washington Post. I don't even want to give too much away - just read this whole thing and see the incredible sacrifice some Americans have done to help the country. | |
⏪REWIND // FAST FORWARD ⏩
⏪ Want a sign for how out of touch Twitter is? Netflix reported Twitter's favorite Netflix series, "Tiger King," has been seen by 64 million subscribers. Meanwhile, the barely-talked-about movie "Spenser Confidential" has been seen by 85 million subscribers.
⏩ Coming up Saturday morning is a CNN coronavirus special...for kids. It features Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Big Bird. (I kind of love this.) | | | MORE TK Did Dr. Rick Bright get pushed out of the NIH because he wouldn't go along with the Trump administration's support of hydroxycholoquine, as the New York Times reported? Or has he actually been on the chopping block for more than a year because of his management style, as Politico reported? Only one can be right! | | | GREAT MOMENTS IN JOURNALISM | | | Speaking of Politico... this from co-founder John Harris is pretty sad. "What if this cataclysm makes us even more selfish and short term in our thinking? In short: What if we're screwed?" he writes. What if... we're not. | | Thanks for reading. Stay safe, back Sunday morning...
- Steve Krakauer
@SteveKrak | | | |
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