FDA chief clarifies remarks about COVID-19 treatment following criticism

The head of the US Food and Drug Administration has clarified his remarks about a new COVID-19 treatment — and insisted politics had nothing to do with his agency’s decision to authorize its emergency use.

“I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn tweeted.

“What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction.”

Hahn also said the decision to authorize emergency use of convalescent plasma — which is derived from the blood of people who recovered from the coronavirus — “was made entirely by FDA scientists.”