Mr. Zee developed fevers and progressive shortness of breath, tested positive for Covid-19, and recovered after taking ICURECOV*—a drug he ordered online. Yay! Right?
If accurate, here’s everything we know from that story: Mr. Zee was sick with Covid-19 and recovered after taking ICURECOV. The terrible truth is that Mr. Zee’s true story does not tell us whether taking iCURECOV (1) helped, (2) harmed, or (3) made no difference.
Let’s imagine that magically we knew that ICURECOV did, indeed, facilitate Mr. Z’s recovery. Now what does his story teach us? Only one thing: ICURECOV helped Mr. Zee. His recovery story, while intensely appealing and provocative, does not tell us anything about how or why the treatment worked for Mr. Zee, nor whether it could work for anyone else. At best, his success story suggests an avenue of investigation worth pursuing by researchers.
This Atlantic article addresses a pressing question, Why Does the President Keep Pushing a Malaria Drug?
For many people, these are desperate times. I remember feeling desperate in 1993, after learning that available treatments for my cancer recurrence were palliative. I briefly explored tantalizing but unproven “cancer cures.” Why did I quickly dismiss them? Information obtained through anecdote and observation is different than that that obtained through scientific study.
The dreadful Covid-19 has no known effective treatments. Yet. As a Healthy Survivor, beware anecdotes about unproven therapies. Their power to calm anxiety with the promise of recovery stirs hope— hope that may lead you to unwise decisions.
*ICURECOV is not a real drug; it’s a made-up drug name for this post
Illustration by Emma Mathes (from Healing Hope—Through and Beyond Cancer)
AVOIDING UNREALISTIC HOPE HELPS SAVE TIME AND ENERGY
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