NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The maker of the disinfectant Lysol reacted Friday after President Donald Trump suggested disinfectants could be administered by “injection” to help fight the coronavirus.
“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said at his Thursday coronavirus briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Lysol, responded to Trump’s comments with a statement: “As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route). As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines.”
Reaction to Trump’s comments were swift, with doctors taking to Twitter to urge people not to inject disinfectants.
On Thursday night, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told CNN’s Anderson Cooper: “I certainly wouldn't recommend the internal ingestion of a disinfectant.”
Craig Spencer, director of global health in emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, told The Washington Post: “My concern is that people will die. People will think this is a good idea.”
On Friday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he was being sarcastic when he made the comments.
"I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen," Trump said. "I was asking a sarcastic—and a very sarcastic question—to the reporters in the room."
Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump's comments were "taken out of context" by the media.
"President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday's briefing," McEnany wrote. "Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines."
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