Thought of the Day - May 28 - Hydroxychloroquine Study
- Cliff Fraser
- May 28, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 30, 2021
For some time I have been watching the media war around the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a therapeutic for COVID-19.
You may have missed some of them but here is just a brief glimpse at the headlines:
FDA cautions against use of HCQ saying is can cause severe heart problems - Trump announces he is taking HCQ;
WHO says they are temporarily discontinuing trials due to side-effects - Malaysia, India, Nigeria and Costa Rica say they will continue with the treatment;
Lancet publishes a literature study saying they were unable to confirm benefits - Canada secures shipment of 5 million tablets of HCQ from India.
Remember we are talking about a drug that is widely used for the prevention of malaria and the treatment of arthritis. It has been on the market for over 50 years. It is on the WHO's List of Essential Medicines. It has now been used as a therapeutic for COVID-19 for months in various places around the world. And yet the jury is still out - mainly because no COVID-19 treatment double-blind studies have been done (or at least published).
My point is not suggest whether HCQ helps or harms (at this point I have no idea, and indeed no real way of knowing), it is about the associated media storm, the misinformation and the special interest groups behind them (a similar thing is happening with remdesivir as well). In fact the United Nations is now starting an initiative called "Verified" to try to curb misinformation.
But just think for a second what will to happen once all these vaccine trials get going (estimated at between 70 and 100 around the world). Behind each are billion dollar companies with hundreds of millions invested and potential billions in profits at stake. Governments and regulatory bodies are going to be under enormous pressure to hurry up trials and hush up issues. The media will be solicited to make sure particular products are top of mind. If we can't even do definitive science in a timely manner around something as well known as HCQ, mark my words, it is going be a gong-show - and I don't think the UN's "Verified" initiative will stop it.
Cheers
Cliff
From the Canadian Medical Association Journal
June 4: Hydroxychloroquine not effective at preventing COVID-19
A study of 821 people in the United States and Canada found that taking hydroxychloroquine within four days of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 did not prevent COVID-19 or similar illness. Nearly 12% of patients who received the anti-malarial drug after exposure to the virus fell ill, compared to 14% of people who took a placebo. Side effects were also more common in patients who received hydroxychloroquine. The Canada-U.S. study is the first double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of hydroxychloroquine. The findings come as the World Health Organization announced it was resuming a clinical trial testing the drug as a treatment for COVID-19.
Great to see Canada is promoting good…
From the Canadian Medical Association Journal
May 29: Scientists raise doubts over hydroxychloroquine study
Dozens of scientists questioned the methods of a study of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 that led the World Health Organization to suspend a global trial of the treatment. Among the concerns listed in an open letter response to the study published in the Lancet, scientists noted a lack of information about countries and hospitals that contributed data to the study, and discrepancies in the number of deaths reported in the study versus official figures. According to the Lancet, the authors of the study are working to address these issues.
Sounds like the jury is still out.
Cheers
Cliff