Coronavirus Covid-19: Donald Trump ‘incapacitated’ by side effects of drugs, claims law professor

A Stanford University law professor who took the drug Donald Trump used to fight the coronavirus says he could be “incapacitated” by the same serious side effects she experienced.

The US president’s doctors revealed Sunday that Trump received a dose of the powerful steroid dexamethasone the day before at Walter Reed Military Hospital, where he was airlifted by helicopter on Friday night after experiencing a “rapid progression” of his illness. with oxygen levels dropping. worryingly low.

Earlier on Friday, he had received a single dose of an experimental antibody treatment designed to help the immune system, and also started a five-day course of remdesivir, the drug currently used for moderate to severe cases of Covid-19.

Trump left Walter Reed on Sunday to step into his caravan to greet supporters gathered outside, after posting an upbeat video message on Twitter thanking his medical team, who previously told reporters that he could return to the House. Blanca on Monday. .

With the car ride drawing outrage from Trump’s critics, who said he irresponsibly put the health of his Secret Service officers at risk by forcing them into confined space, Michele Dauber of Stanford University launched the latest conspiracy theory to go viral on Twitter.

“I was treated with dexamethasone after brain surgery,” he wrote.

“It’s (as my team told me) a drug that seriously bothers you. It’s a bad drug. I couldn’t wait to quit. Unfortunately, you have to quit, which takes time. Trump is incapacitated. I couldn’t be my cat’s president when he was taking dexamethasone. He shouldn’t be exercising the powers of the President’s Office with that drug. We’re lucky if he doesn’t start a war. He’s incapacitated. “

He added: “I think what you just did by car is potentially a symptom of dexamethasone. In addition to warning about mood swings, my surgeon told me that it makes you feel like you could bike Mount Tam or run a marathon. right after surgery when I still had staples on my head. “

Professor Dauber highlighted comments from Dr. Paul Summergrad, Tufts University chair of psychiatry and former president of the American Psychiatric Association, to support his claims.

“Dexamethasone can cause frank mania or more severe depressive states,” he wrote. “In addition to the risk of neuropsychiatric symptoms related to Covid / severe delirium, the press should ask the medical team how they are formally monitoring their mental state.”

Some accounts of Trump’s condition immediately before he flew to Walter Reed Medical Center suggest he was clearly upset.

Vanity Fair journalist Gabriel Sherman reported that the president was increasingly concerned about his condition.

“Trump became visibly anxious when his fever rose to 103 degrees Fahrenheit [39.5C] and they administered oxygen to him in the White House, “he wrote, referring to” Republican sources. “

Sherman said he was told that Trump “experienced heart palpitations” on Friday, which could have been side effects of the experimental Regeneron antibody treatment he received.

“Am I going to come out as Stan Chera?” Trump was reported to have asked for helpers, a reference to his friend Stan Chera, who died of the disease in April.

Dr. Summergrad denied violating the APA’s “Goldwater Rule,” which says that “it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion” on a public figure “unless he has conducted an examination and been given due diligence. authorization to do so. a statement “.

He said the rule, named after the 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, “explicitly states that psychiatrists can share knowledge on psychiatric issues in general.”

“My previous comments should be understood as general comments on the known effects of corticosteroids and Covid, and the monitoring that ANY patient could need,” he said.

“They are not judgments in any way about the president or his current ability, as I have not examined him.”

Professor Dauber’s thread was retweeted nearly 18,000 times and featured by several prominent Democrats.

“Wow. Read this,” said Claude Taylor, a former White House staff member and political activist for Bill Clinton.

Western New England University law professor Jennifer Taub introduced the “25th Amendment,” which relates to succession issues if a president is disabled.

Television producer Dan Signer wrote: “It is time to transfer power.”

Others said Professor Dauber was being irresponsible, however, and suggested that there may be other factors that contributed to her experience while taking the drug.

“Or maybe listen to me, you also had BRAIN SURGERY,” wrote conservative podcast host Lyndsey Fifield.

Jessica Houseman, a reporter for the left-wing ProPublica website, was also critical.

“No. This is wrong,” he said. “Dexamethasone is a standard drug that you’ve probably taken and then started to work. Let’s not confuse the impact of a basic drug after brain surgery with the same drug used in a virus. This kind of exaggeration is not helpful.”

He added that it was correctly described in news articles as “an affordable and widely available steroid.”

“That’s what it is,” he said. “It’s just that. It’s a stronger prednisone, which you’ve all taken at some point.”