Chairman Clyburn Addresses Trump Administration’s Authorization of Use of Plasma to Treat Coronavirus

Washington, D.C. (August 23, 2020) -- Today, Rep. James E. Clyburn, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, issued the following statement in response to President Trump's announcement that the Food and Drug Administration had provided emergency authorization for the use of convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus patients:

"I welcome any therapy that scientific evidence indicates may be effective in treating the coronavirus, which continues to kill hundreds of Americans each day. But I am troubled by the President's desperate and dangerous pattern of pushing unproven treatments, as he did with hydroxychloroquine, and refusing to allow scientists to determine the appropriate authorizations and recommendations with respect to particular therapies. Although the treatment discussed today may be promising, our nation's top scientists reportedly determined recently that the evidence was too weak to support its authorization for emergency use for the coronavirus. I urge the President to allow scientists to do their work without political interference—not pressure them to approve treatments based on a political timetable that could put American lives at risk."

Last week, it was reported that Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and other top scientists had urged caution on the use of plasma to treat the coronavirus.

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