Ben Carson says he’s ‘out of the woods’ after being ‘extremely sick’ with COVID-19

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said Friday he is feeling better after what appeared to be a serious bout of the coronavirus.

In a Facebook post, Carson, who is a medical doctor, said he believes he is “out of the woods” after being “extremely sick” with the highly infectious virus and that he believes an experimental treatment he took saved his life.

“I was extremely sick and initially took Oleander 4X with dramatic improvement. However, I have several co-morbidities and after a brief period when I only experienced minor discomfort, the symptoms accelerated and I became desperately ill. President Trump was following my condition and cleared me for the monoclonal antibody therapy that he had previously received, which I am convinced saved my life,” he wrote, referring to a treatment that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or a proven COVID-19 therapeutic. 

“President Trump, the fabulous White House medical team, and the phenomenal doctors at Walter Reed have been paying very close attention to my health and I do believe I am out of the woods at this point,” he added. “I am hopeful that we can stop playing politics with medicine and instead combine our efforts and goodwill for the good of all people.” 

Carson, 69, first announced earlier this month that he’d tested positive for the coronavirus. It was not immediately clear which monoclonal antibody treatment Carson received or if he received Regeneron’s experimental antibody treatment that Trump received when he had his own battle with the coronavirus.

Regeneron in October applied to the FDA for emergency use authorization of its antibody treatment. 

Carson thanked people for their support during his illness and said people across the country should have access to the high-quality care he currently enjoys. 

“While I am blessed to have the best medical care in the world (and I am convinced it saved my life), we must prioritize getting comparable treatments and care to everyone as soon as possible,” he wrote.

Carson’s battle with COVID-19 comes amid an alarming national spike in cases. The number of new cases reported each day routinely surpasses 150,000, and the U.S. tallied 2,015 new coronavirus deaths Thursday, marking the first time the country has hit more than 2,000 daily deaths since May.