FDA chief issues mea culpa for his plasma treatment claims

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/25/fda-chief-plasma-benefits-criticism-401514

 FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn issued a mea culpa late Monday, conceding that he had overstated the benefits of convalescent plasma as a treatment of coronavirus at a press conference last weekend with President Donald Trump.

 “I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified,” the commissioner said in a string of tweets. “What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction.”

While the therapy is considered safe, plasma has not yet been proven effective against the coronavirus. 

In a statement released Sunday, the FDA said plasma “does not yet represent a new standard of care based on the current available evidence.”

 The commissioner’s actions Sunday, which came after Trump accused the FDA of slow-walking the therapy to harm his reelection, renewed many public health experts' fears that the administration will rush through a Covid-19 vaccine without proof that it works.