Mr. Trump Dr. Francis S. Collins was called in as director of the NIH when he and other senior government scientists stepped in to slow emergency clearance to increase the use of blood plasma from covid-19 patients protected for new treatments. For more than a week, the NIHA approved the emergency, citing concerns about the effectiveness of the so-called Naval Plasma.
While White House officials were anxious to show a step in the fight against the virus, Mr. Trump had none of it: “Done by Friday,” he demanded.
That Sunday night, on the eve of the Republican National Convention, the president had what he wanted: he announced that plasma therapy had been approved for widespread use, and he announced that he could reduce the percentage of deaths, more than the figures show. About the benefits will increase exponentially.
Mr. Trump’s Dr. Collins was the only one in a series of moments called public health bureaucracy scientists and regulators increasingly worried that the White House, even in absentia, could exert more pressure to approve the vaccine before election day. Agreement on its effectiveness and safety.
On the night of the plasma announcement, Dr. Collins was asked to show up at the White House, where he was given a coronavirus test, and then Mr. Trump and others headed to Roosevelt’s room to speak to reporters in the briefing room.
There, Dr. Collins and Dr. Peter Marks, one of the top regulators of the Food and Drug Administration and the person most directly responsible for maintaining the independence and scientific rigor of the vaccine approval process. The culmination of public relations that resurfaced for days.
Dr. Left the White House after Collins’ announcement. But Dr. Marcus, who pushed for plasma approval, took Mr. Trump and his top aides to the Oval Office to spend a few minutes celebrating with a cupcake with white icing. In an interview on Friday, Dr. Marx said he was “a little shocked” to find himself there.
