Prescription for defeating COVID-19 is to keep an open mind

SAN DIEGO -- It's not just toilet paper that is in short supply. Americans are also suffering through a shortage of common sense.

Having more of it would allow them to put aside politics and partisanship long enough to consider the possibility that there's already a drug on the market that might be effective in treating COVID-19.

If that's true, we should all want three things: to hear more about the drug, to have a national conversation about its effects (good and bad), and for the drug to be produced in greater quantity so it is more readily available.

This is not much to ask. And it should not be controversial.

Some people argue that creating a stampede for the medicine would wipe out the supply for existing patients who depend on it to treat other conditions.

Fair point. That seems to be happening. There are disturbing stories about doctors stockpiling the drug. Maybe they know something we don't.

But the main reason so many people -- especially those in the media -- have been hating on this drug is that it has been endorsed by President Trump.

Imagine that Trump had -- during one of those contentious White House briefings a couple weeks ago -- never mentioned hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Imagine Trump had never optimistically touted the prescription drug -- currently used primarily to treat lupus and prevent malaria -- as a potential "game changer" for patients dealing with the coronavirus, especially when combined with antibiotics.

We would be in a whole different place. The media and Democratic politicians would probably be leading the way in calling for more of these drugs. Instead, some have been pooh-poohing their effectiveness and looking for clouds behind every silver lining.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- which did eventually come around to issuing an emergency approval of the drugs to treat COVID-19 -- might have reached that point sooner.

And, when Dr. Marlow Hernandez called NBC News a few weeks ago to report some success he was having in using the medicine to treat patients with COVID-19, the Miami-based physician would probably not have been shuffled off by the person at the other end of the line who didn't seem all that interested in what he scoffed at as "Trump's drug."

Say, what's the cure for journalistic malpractice? Answer: The truth.

As someone who lives, works and plays at the maddening intersection of media and politics, I envy those who have little interest in either. I admire the way they see a problem and look for a practical solution without concern for who gets the credit, how to spin the blame or how it will play in Peoria.

Sometimes, those people are cops, or farmers, or teachers. They're normal people with normal jobs.

And sometimes, they are doctors at the front lines of the war against a deadly and mercurial enemy that seems to know a lot more about us and our bodies than we know about it -- or how to kill it.

Hernandez couldn't care less about politics or the media. He just wants to find a way to preserve the health of the 60,000 patients served by Cano Health, the health management company he founded 11 years ago to treat the underserved, and which has now grown to include 46 medical centers, more than 100 physicians and 1,300 staff members.

The underserved includes the group whose welfare has, as of late, been keeping Hernandez up at night - Hispanic patients who are also elderly and so at greater risk of being infected by COVID-19. Most of his patients are 65 years or older.

"The research will eventually catch up, and we will find out which therapies are the most effective," Hernandez said. "But we don't have the luxury of waiting. And if we can use medicines with an acceptable safety profile and a set protocol that can potentially give a better outcome to a patient in consultation with a physician who understands that individual and their medical history, I believe it could make a big impact."

Hernandez said that even before Trump mentioned hydroxychloroquine, and the FDA approved its use, he gave it to his patients together with antibiotics. About 100 of them had showed symptoms for COVID-19. According to Hernandez, All the patients showed signs of improvement.

Is this a miracle drug -- or a mirage? We don't know. We need to find out. So let the conversation continue. Shame on anyone who tries to stifle it.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.