An Effective COVID Treatment the Media Continues to Besmirch | Real Clear Politics

[Kentonio]

Perhaps the specific drug/clinical trial facet of medical science became recently politicized...

But there have been other aspects of medical science (and medicine in general) that have been politicized for a while in several other facets over the over-arching umbrella of "medical science"

- Healthcare (with regards to coverage in general)
- Nutrition science (it's not a coincidence that vegans/vegetarians are more 3x more likely to be democrats, and why "the carnivore diet" is growing in popularity among the far right)
- The science behind certain types of drug use is heavily politicized, with people on the far right clutching to the specific studies that show that marijuana use is harmful (and ignoring many of the other ones), and people on the far left happily embracing some very low level observational studies and anecdotal evidence suggesting that it's seemingly good for everything.
- Mental health topics surrounding biology and gender dysphoria

Then you have other topics that tend to be hotly debated, but don't have a clear political line drawn, like alternative medicine, vaccines, GMO's etc...but can still be prone to politicization simply due to followers of them seemingly ignoring the science when it comes to their pet projects, but then chastising others for "not following the science" on other subjects.

For instance, RFK Jr has never been shy about chastising climate change deniers for failing to adhere to the scientific consensus, meanwhile traveling the country doing speaking tours on behalf of the anti-vaxx movement. (and he was a front runner for an Obama appointment to be EPA administrator)

Neither party, as a whole, really passes a "purity" test when it comes to the topic of medical science.

Yeah that’s completely fair.

 

[sesquiterpene]

However, I do feel that the attempts to target the safety aspect weren't well founded either, thus the reason why the Lancet retracted the study...and the New England Journal of Medicine had to retract a similar study (from the same research group not a day later) over similar concerns about a study they produced looking into off-label use of blood pressure medications for it.

The two studies you mentioned seem to be pure fiction from start to finish - not what's needed in the middle of a pandemic.
I think it's likely that most of what Zelenko is saying is fiction, too.

 

[lasthero]

And of course the subtext is that Democrats are intentionally suppressing an effective cure for Covid-19 so that more people will die and Trump won't be re-elected. Republicans don't care if that is actually true or not, so long as it is believed.

This is what I don’t understand about that line of thought: What could Democrats actually do to suppress HCQ? Like, I keep hearing how the media is at fault, but the media doesn’t control the CDC or the FDA or anything. Even if they are badmouthing HCQ unfairly, that shouldn’t have any effect on how the drug is actually used.

 

[Nithavela]

This is what I don’t understand about that line of thought: What could Democrats actually do to suppress HCQ? Like, I keep hearing how the media is at fault, but the media doesn’t control the CDC or the FDA or anything. Even if they are badmouthing HCQ unfairly, that shouldn’t have any effect on how the drug is actually used.

One of the most basic tricks in the playbook is to make your followers believe that the enemy is all-powerfull and as flimsy as a paper tiger at the same time, so that they will feel both incredibly brave for attacking him and self-assured in their certainty of victory.

Untruth will always triumph.

 

[cow451]

Hatfill is quite an interesting study in and of himself. He was given the "Richard Jewell Treatment" by the FBI, et al, after the notorious anthrax attacks following 9/11. Clearly a victim of a "piling on" by the W. Bush adminstration and some willing media outlets, he ultimately won several legalsettlements after being exonerated.

But he did himself no favors by being outed as a resume-puffer, falsely claiming a degree and some military accomplishments.

He self-published a poorly-- or perhaps not edited --book in late 2019 highly critical of America's pandemic preparedness, which he clearly nailed.

While not to be mistaken for the most stable genius in the room, he has some points to make and is not without some qualifications. But his expertise in HCQ seems lacking in comparison to epidemiologists. He doesn't really add anything to the debate, but has support from the HCQ fanboys.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

It's funny how one of the arguments in favor of wearing masks
is that "they do it in other countries, why shouldn't we?"
Well, other countries have also been using HCQ to combat this
pandemic... why shouldn't weeeeeeee?



-

We've been using HCQ.

 

[FireDragon76]

The problem with HCQ wasn't that it wasn't potentially beneficiall, it was that Trump was promoting it as a substitute for science-based public health policies.