The mysterious case of the people who ate fish tank cleaner to protect against Covid-19

Shortly after President Trump touted chloroquine as a potential cure for COVID-19, the media triumphantly reported that a man died from taking homemade chloroquine due to Trump’s recommendation. It turned out that the man’s wife fed him some fish tank cleaner. She even partook of it with him, except that he died while she didn’t. As a dedicated murder mystery reader, I didn’t blame Trump. My suspicions were focused elsewhere. It turns out my instincts may have been right on the money. Here’s the story the drive-by media didn't tell you:

On March 20, President Trump expressed his hope that chloroquine (also prescribed as hydroxychloroquine) might be an effective way to treat COVID-19, especially when used in conjunction with Azithromycin, an antibiotic. The next day, he reiterated that hope in a tweet.

Two days later, Axios reported, “Man dies after self-medicating with chloroquine phosphate.” Axios articles have bullet points to guide readers. In the case of what was a brief, and seemingly bizarre, news squiblet, the bullet points said “Why it matters,” “Worth noting,” and “Go deeper.” That last bullet point led readers to an article entitled “Trump touts drugs not yet approved by FDA for treating coronavirus.” The reader could almost hear the Axios editors adding, “hint, hint.”

Sure enough, by March 24, the narrative was in place. President Trump was responsible for killing a man and almost killing a woman. Indeed, these narratives were not subtle. This NPR tweet is a stand-in for what all the media outlets were doing:

An Arizona man is died of a heart attack and his wife was hospitalized after the couple ingested a type of chloroquine, a chemical that has been hailed recently by President Trump as a possible "game changer"

It turns out that “Court records show the wife who fed her husband fish cleaner (poison?) has a history of mental illness (paranoia, depression) and had considered divorcing her husband as far back as 2012":

NEW:

Court records show the wife who fed her husband fish cleaner (poison?) has a history of mental illness (paranoia, depression) and had considered divorcing her husband as far back as 2012.

[short thread] pic.twitter.com/5eHF5Z52ah— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) March 31, 2020

The wife had significant health issues.

She testified that she had "adrenal gland failure, and steroids and heart medicine are keeping me functioning"

While this shows that she (and maybe her husband) were high risk for COVID-19.. pic.twitter.com/cOCPexKckp— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) March 31, 2020

Her familiarity with medication doesn't exactly fit the profile of someone who would mix fish cleaner with soda.

(If you know the regimented type you understand.)— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) March 31, 2020

And she certainly wasn't shy to seek input from doctors.

Transcripts (civil case) show she sought out an occupational health doctor and "wanted his advice" pic.twitter.com/2159KX0WHT— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) March 31, 2020

The media rose to new levels of blatant, offensive propaganda with this story. They have no decency. I wish there was a way for the president to sue them for slander. He explicitly said the drug was for doctors and states to use by prescription; yet the Goebbels media did all they could to convince people Trump killed that man who decided to drink fish bowl cleaner.

If Obama had announced there was a promising new medicine for the virus, the “press” would have been praising him to the gills over it.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.