Food and Drug Commissioner Stephen Hahn said criticism about his interpretation of the benefits of using convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus patients is « entirely justified. »
Aug.25 (UPI) — Food and Drug Commissioner Stephen Hahn said criticism about his interpretation of the benefits of using convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus patients is « entirely justified. » He offered some clarity on his remarks late Monday, one day after he, along with President Donald Trump, announced the FDA’s emergency use authorization for plasma to be used in treatments for COVID-19. « I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified. What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction, » Hahn tweeted. During Sunday’s announcement, Hahn and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar touted what they said was the plasma’s success at treating patients. They repeated one statistic in particular — that there was a 35% increase in survival with patients under 80 who were not on artificial respiration.
