Navarro: Experts call for randomized plasma trials a ‘crazy talking point’

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that calls for randomized control trials of the convalescent plasma treatments is a “crazy talking point.”

The White House on Sunday authorized the emergency use of the treatment for COVID-19 patients, though some experts say it should be studied further in randomized clinical trials before widespread use. 

“I don’t accept that premise. To me that’s a crazy talking point,” the White House economist told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. 

Navarro said that waiting for more trials could lead to more death than necessary, especially since convalescent plasma has already been used to treat other diseases. 

“On the issue of not being able to do randomized trials, what is the calculus here?” Navarro said. “Are we going to wait here to do something that’s going to save thousands of lives so we can have a study that tells us what we already know, which is that convalescent plasma works?”

Health experts have argued that besides the unknowns associated with convalescent plasma treatments for COVID-19, authorizing its use could make it harder to test because patients will be unlikely to sign up for studies in which they might be assigned to a control group that does not receive the treatment.