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Comment by caconym_ | Hacker News Reader

I think Trump was just casting about for anything he might hitch his wagon to and claim credit for later. It's unfortunate that "the other side" heaped so much scorn on chloroquine just because Trump was touting it, because there was never any conclusive evidence that it doesn't work, and if it actually does work then they played right into Trump's usual "hoax" angle.

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Agreed. But by trying to hitch their wagon to one particular treatment, and trying take ownership of that issue, they are making it about them and about politics rather than about the efficacy of the treatment.

In this kind of crisis, the last thing we need is to be injecting politics into the decision about which treatments are most effective.

"The other side" criticized Trump for what he said. They did not impugn the potential of chloroquine. This issue is only, "What did the president say and should he have said it".

No responsible person should offer unproven medical advice IN ANY WAY. And no medical professional should do so unless they have multiple reliables sources to support their advice.

Trump failed on both of these points. If chloroquine turns out to fail, he'll surely promote more possible treatments again and again, thereby whittling away public trust and hope, over and over. That's terrible leadership, and rightly merits criticism from everyone who gives a damn, not just "the other side".

"the other side" didn't say anything negative about CQ or HCQ - and instead (if you had actually listened to their message) tried to get people to NOT take it themselves, to NOT hoard it, to NOT prescribe it a prophylactic when that is an unknown (this depleting existing supplies).

That is what "the other side" was saying.

I say you are wrong, though maybe this is the line we should be using if we still think we can tiptoe backwards out of Trump's chloroquine trap.

I repied to somebody saying essentially the same thing as you here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22760840

We all saw the same news. The hammer has come down quite hysterically against chloroquine. Trump is usually a reliable liar: I presumed that journalists were banking on that fact and on disputing him as a safe way to get attention. And not doing their research.

Difficult to watch, as someone familiar with chloroquine, knowing they were spreading mistaken information about the side effects and blowing the risks well out of proportion.

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