It’s rare we see anyone connected to the Trump administration admit they were wrong, but today FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn is doing just that. Hahn spoke at a White House press event Sunday where Donald Trump announced that the FDA was granting emergency use authorization for a plasma coronavirus treatment. Hahn was criticized following his remarks for overstating the statistics on convalescent plasma. As News & Guts reported, “Among those who thought the evidence was weak was Dr. Anthony Fauci. Former FDA head Dr. Scott Gottleib said on Sunday the evidence is probably weakly beneficial but experts wanted to see more data.”
The head of the federal agency in charge of authorizing new medical treatments doesn't understand what reduction in mortality means. How can we trust anything the FDA does, if this is the guy who decides whether the agency will bow to political pressure? https://t.co/n1xo8NGfZ8
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) August 23, 2020
It would be good for Steve to publish a correction. I'm sure he meant to correctly state the translation from relative effect to absolute effect. @EricTopol @ScottGottliebMD @US_FDA https://t.co/AWEJaGDOkn
— Robert M Califf (@califf001) August 24, 2020
Today Hahn is doing some clean-up, telling CBS This Morning:
“I personally could have done a better job and should have done a better job at that press conference explaining what the data show regarding convalescent plasma. I can assure the American people that this decision was made based upon sound science and data.”
He also issued a series of tweets clarifying what he meant to say. Though never changing the statistic he originally offered up.
I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified. What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction.
— Dr. Stephen M. Hahn (@SteveFDA) August 25, 2020
Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn scrambled to respond to critics who said he had hurt his agency’s credibility at a White House press conference. The fight against Covid-19 may hinge on whether he can undo the perceived damage. https://t.co/y7hEmhrMef
— Barron's (@barronsonline) August 25, 2020
Watch more of what he told CBS’s Gayle King above.
