Oleandrin Cure?
- fionacsweet
- Aug 17, 2020
- 3 min read
Now here is someone that I would not have envisioned working with Trump: Mike Lindell, the creator of MyPillow. But I digress. Lindell recently confirmed to CNN that him and the President participated in a July meeting regarding the use of oleandrin as a potential therapeutic for COVID-19. For some background, oleandrin is an extract from the plant Nerium oleander. The raw plant is highly toxic, and consumption of it can be fatal. (picture of plant on cover photo) The President's response toward the extract was "enthusiastic."
I really wish that Trump would stop pushing cures that people could die from.
Trump confirmed that he has "heard about" oleandrin when asked Monday at the White House, but seemed to still be gathering information. He said this: "We'll look at it, we'll look at it, we're looking at a lot of different things. I will say the FDA has been great. They are very close. We're very close to a vaccine. Very close to a therapeutic. I have heard that name mentioned, we'll find out."
What we still don't know is whether or not he has mentioned oleandrin to the FDA. What we do know is that oleandrin has not been approved by the FDA. A task force member confirmed that he had not brought it up in their meetings, although Lindell has shared his findings with Ben Carson, a member of the task force. According to Lindell, Carson "did his due diligence and was just amazed. He said it was very exciting seeing all the data."
Normally, I would be all for a therapeutic that magically makes the coronavirus go away. But there are some concerning things about Lindell, the man who has been pushing this therapeutic so much. Lindell is the chairman of the Minnesota Trump campaign and often appears on Trump's behalf. He said he gets many pitches for therapeutics and other protective equipment, as first heard about oleandrin when he was contacted by Phoenix Biotechnology's Andrew Whitney on Easter Sunday. Last week, he was added to the board of Phoenix Biotechnology, and received a financial stake in the company. Although he said the reason he did that was because he wants "this to get to the public so bad and [he] want[s] to get it out there to help people," I have my doubts that this decision is people based and not money based.
Lindell has said that he has done his research on the therapeutic, citing studies from the University of Texas and Fort Detrick in Maryland. He himself has taken the extract as a prophylactic himself and encourages others to do the same. However, no studies involving oleandrin and COVID-19 have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and there is no public information that shows it has been tested on coronavirus patients. One pre-print study, which hasn't been peer-reviewed or published, found the extract had antiviral effects against the virus in the lab. But! Two of the study's authors are employed by Phoenix Biotechnology. So do with that information what you will.
I would be very wary of this new therapeutic as a way to treat COVID-19. It appears that the people touting the effects of this treatment would profit from the treatment being widely used, which blurs their motives for pushing it. I am also worried that maybe some other people will not do their research and ingest the plant in the hopes of treating coronavirus, which will lead to more fatalities.
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