In case you missed the stupidest story in journalism last night:
Man dies after taking drug touted as coronavirus treatment by Trump https://t.co/VKVdxInn9f pic.twitter.com/yIoFNDi5pz
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 24, 2020
An Arizona man is died of a heart attack and his wife was hospitalized after the couple ingested a type of chloroquine, a chemical that has been hailed recently by President Trump as a possible "game changer" in the fight against novel coronavirus. https://t.co/ItBLKqac8B
— NPR (@NPR) March 24, 2020
????Her husband is dead & she's in the ICU after ingesting chloroquine:
"We saw Trump on TV — every channel — & all of his buddies and that this was safe," she said.
"Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure."She implored @VaughnHillyard: "Educate the people" https://t.co/Vl94tIZcdw
— Heidi Przybyla (@HeidiNBC) March 23, 2020
HE INGESTED FISH TANK CLEANER YOU HACKS https://t.co/sj1ewTV3O7
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 24, 2020
I’m totally serious. Here’s the story:
An Arizona man has died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate — believing it would protect him from becoming infected with the coronavirus. The man’s wife also ingested the substance and is under critical care.
[…]
The name “chloroquine” resonated with the man’s wife, who asked that her name not be used to protect the family’s privacy. She’d used it previously to treat her koi fish.
“I was in the pantry stacking dog food and I just saw it sitting in the back shelf and thought, ‘Hey, isn’t that the stuff they’re talking about on TV?’ And it was.”
The couple — both in their 60s and potentially at higher risk for complications of the virus — decided to mix a small amount of the substance with a liquid and drink it as a way to prevent the coronavirus.
“We were afraid of getting sick,” she said.
“Oh my God. Don’t take anything. Don’t believe anything. Don’t believe anything that the President says and his people because they don’t know what they’re talking about. And don’t take anything—be so careful and call your doctor. This is a heartache I’ll never get over.”
NBC and Forbes took this as a cudgel to Trump and Trump voters. The easier and more responsible way of covering it would have been to use it as a warning sign of what not to do. Petty political grudges can’t be placed aside during a pandemic, it seems.
Bonus: Uh oh
Oh look, a household version of calcium supplements! pic.twitter.com/g4Z6pGdjFy
— Christopher R Taylor (@KestrelArts) March 24, 2020