The editor of prestigious British medical journal The Lancet has disputed the existence of a study that President Donald Trump claimed was published in the …
The editor of prestigious British medical journal The Lancet has disputed the existence of a study that President Donald Trump claimed was published in the journal in December 2019, sounded an early alarm on the novel coronavirus, and was ignored by the World Health Organization.
Trump’s letter, addressed to WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had accused the agency of accepting China’s attempts to downplay the outbreak in its early days, despite scientific reports indicating its urgency.
It also threatened to permanently withdraw US funding and membership of the WHO unless the agency made “major substantive improvements” within 30 days.
“The World Health Organization consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal,” he wrote.
But it appears such a study doesn’t exist.
Richard Horton, The Lancet’s editor-in-chief, disputed Trump’s claims about the study, saying in a Tuesday morning tweet: “Dear President Trump — You cite The Lancet in your attack on WHO.
