Elon Musk's ventilators not what hospitals need amid coronavirus crisis, so is he just being an opportunist?
Elon Musk can't seem to help but stay in the headlines during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. First, his tweets suggested that he did not think much of the panic over the outbreak, then he did an about-turn and said he would donate ventilators if the need arose. This week, Musk's donation of ventilators were called out for being the kind that possibly does not help.
On March 7, Musk tweeted, "The coronavirus pandemic is dumb." A couple of days later, he stated that the "virality" and "fatality" rates were overstated. In one tweet he wrote, "Virality of C19 is overstated due to conflating diagnosis date with contraction date & over-extrapolating exponential growth, which is never what happens in reality. Keep extrapolating & virus will exceed mass of known universe!"
In another, Musk tweeted, "Fatality rate also greatly overstated. Because there are so few test kits, those who die with respiratory symptoms are tested for C19, but those with minor symptoms are usually not. The prevalence of coronaviruses & other colds in general population is very high!" In fact, Vox's Recode has a detailed timeline of Musk's coronavirus-related tweets during the pandemic, including one where he talks about a "rave."
On March 20, Musk tweeted, "Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable. Family gatherings with close contact between kids & grandparents probably most risky," which is a false claim -- many children have tested positive and there have been casualties as well.
By mid-March, Musk tweeted that Tesla will make ventilators "if there is a shortage." Following this, he wrote, "Tesla makes cars with sophisticated hvac systems. SpaceX makes spacecraft with life support systems. Ventilators are not difficult, but cannot be produced instantly. Which hospitals have these shortages you speak of right now?"
Musk's claim of "instantly" producing ventilators was a tall order considering hospitals around the world are scrambling to save patients. There were reports of doctors in Italy being forced to choose between which patients to help because they did not have enough resources.
However, since then Musk has been genuinely helpful in some instances in the final days of the last month. He acquired 1,000 ventilators from China and donated them to the state of Los Angeles. He also donated ventilators to New York separately. He has also said that Tesla’s factory in Buffalo, New York, will reopen to produce ventilators “as soon as humanly possible” and promised to do “anything in our power to help the citizens of New York.”
However, a report by the Financial Times' Alphaville suggests that these ventilators are not the kind that is needed to treat patients suffering from coronavirus. The report found that the donated machines were "BPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure, also called a “BiPAP” machine), which is used to treat sleep apnoea by maintaining a consistent breathing pattern at night (it’s very similar to a CPAP machine, but it has two pressure settings rather than just one)." The machines also cost a fraction of what invasive ventilators cost.
Moreover, the donated machines have since been discontinued by the company that manufactures them. Additionally, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued a guidance on February 23 discouraging CPAP use in COVID-19 patients — advice largely informed by experience with the SARS epidemic in 2003. Studies dating to 2003 suggest that such devices can pump viruses into the air, potentially increasing the spread of a contagious disease.
In Musk's defense, CPAP machines, according to Dr Jonathan Richards who spoke to WAFB9, are not as effective as ventilators when treating the severest of the cases, but they do help and can be used for milder cases or other illnesses in order to free up ventilators for severe COVID-19 cases.
However, Musk's actions during the pandemic have been seen as opportunistic, reminding many of his previous philanthropic actions. One user tweeted, "Elon Musk promising ventilators and sending CPAPs instead while continuing to call them ventilators is the most Elon Musk thing since he promised to fix Flint's water and eventually just sent them some filters."
On March 31, he tweeted, "We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse."
The ventilators fiasco also reminded some of the 2018 Thai rescue mission of the boys trapped in a cave, when Musk offered to help by sending in a "mini-submarine". He had tweeted, "Just returned from Cave 3. Mini-sub is ready if needed. It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids’ soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future. Thailand is so beautiful."
When Musk was reportedly told that the submarine would not be of use, he lashed out in a now-deleted tweet, saying he would make a video proving that his “mini-sub” would have been successful and adding: “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it," targeting the British caver Vernon Unsworth who took part in the rescue mission. Unsworth had said, "It just had absolutely no chance of working. He had no conception of what the cave passage was like. The submarine, I believe, was about 5ft 6in long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone round corners or round any obstacles.”
Musk later tweeted, "As this well-written article suggests, my words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader."
While Musk's donated BiPAP machines may be better than nothing, they are certainly not the ventilators he promised. As it stands Musk has gone from downplaying the virus and procrastinating on closing his plants to finally closing them, shipping masks, donating non-invasive ventilators and has even offered to ship more "FDA-approved ventilators."
Musk's actions seem questionable in the midst of a healthcare crisis, but if he ends up helping the thousands of healthcare workers who are looking for more resources they are not getting from their governments, who are we to question his motive?