Trump Given Drug Reserved For Severely Ill Patients

The Washington Post reports:

The steroid that Trump’s physicians say they administered to the president on Saturday is typically reserved only for severely ill coronavirus patients and may even pose dangers for people with relatively mild cases.

Recent research showed the drug, dexamethasone, reduced the risk of death by about a third for patients on ventilators and by a fifth for those who receive supplemental oxygen, as Trump did. The drug has not been shown to help less sick patients and could have negative effects if administered too early because of the way it suppresses the immune system.

In treatment guidelines, the National Institutes of Health recommends against using dexamethasone in patients who don’t require supplemental oxygen.

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