Azar rejects claims Trump pressured FDA to approve convalescent plasma coronavirus treatmenthttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/alex-azar-trump-fda-plasma-coronavirus-treatmentHealth and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar pushed back Wednesday against claims that President Trump pressured the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize the use of convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus patients, but he did credit Trump for removing "unnecessary bureaucratic red tape that stands in the way of saving lives."
Azar was asked on the "Fox News Rundown" whether Trump pressured health officials to approve the treatment before the election -- a theory promoted by some media outlets after the president announced an emergency authorization for its use Sunday.
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But, he continued, "this convalescent plasma data that came in over the course of the last week was being analyzed by [the National Institutes of Health] and the FDA and actually, as of Friday, [we] were preparing rollout materials for an authorization on Sunday. So that was already well underway."
Some 70,000 patients received the convalescent plasma treatment, starting in early April.
April 3, 2020 - The FDA announced a partnership, funded by BARDA, with the Mayo Clinic and American Red Cross to collect plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients for the development of convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulin therapies for Covid-19;
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-coordinates-national-effort-develop-blood-related-therapies-covid-19May 4, 2020 - Mayo Clinic was awarded a $26 million contract from BARDA for the Expanded Access Program (EAP) for convalescent plasma to fight COVID-19;
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-receives-26-million-from-barda-for-covid-19-convalescent-plasma-expanded-access-program/August 14, 2020 - Mayo Clinic and collaborators have published information about results of testing plasma transfusuins in 35K+ patients between April 4 and July 4;
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/convalescent-plasma-associated-with-reduced-covid-19-mortality-in-35000-plus-hospitalized-patients/August 23, 2020 - Expanded Access Program for Convalescent Plasma discontinues enrollment as FDA authorizes its emergency use; the treatment has been used with more than 70K patients;
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/expanded-access-program-for-convalescent-plasma-discontinues-enrollment-as-fda-authorizes-its-emergency-use/Dems' and other Trump-Haters' FUD tactics are so predictable. I did the research above two days ago.
I just have posted it to my timeline yet.
