Trust in the Time of Covid-19

In mid-March, a longstanding patient called my office, asking for hydroxychloroquine to ward off Covid-19. His call came on the heels of a press conference touting the miracle of this wonder drug. I had managed his stable ischemic cardiomyopathy for over a decade and in that time, he had called me only once, from Europe, when hospitalized with shortness of breath. A continent away, I could not titrate diuretic therapy or optimize afterload reduction. But I called him every day because he told me that my familiar voice on the phone was comfort enough.