A. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) made headlines recently because a published observational study that raised alarms about its safety was retracted by the study’s authors.
What does this mean?
The results of scientific studies traditionally go through a rigorous review process by other researchers who were not involved in the original study. After this process, the article may be formally published in a medical or academic journal. However, if errors in the data or in analyses are later discovered, the journal’s editor or the authors can retract (or remove) the article from publication.
In the case of the observational study published in the Lancet, a top medical journal, other scientists began to express suspicions about the validity of the data. This prompted the authors to request an independent audit of the raw data. When Surgisphere, the company that compiled and analyzed the data, failed to cooperate with the audit, the authors requested that their paper be retracted from the journal. This was especially a big deal because the study’s conclusion – that HCQ increased the risk of death among hospitalized patients – was the basis for pausing other clinical trials of HCQ. The good news is that these trials have since resumed.
For more on the retracted study
So what do we REALLY now know about HCQ?
The results of three randomized trials – the gold standard in study design- were recently released. One study showed no mortality benefit in critically ill hospitalized patients. The other two showed that HCQ did not prevent COVID-19 infection in people who had been exposed. None of the studies demonstrated major harms from using the drug, though there were side effects documented.
BOTTOM LINE: Although there’s no evidence that HCQ is associated with a higher risk of death, there’s also currently no evidence of its efficacy for preventing or treating COVID-19.
Dozens of other trials of HCQ are still ongoing. As always, the Nerdy Girls will keep you up-to-date as the results of these trials come in, and to help you sort through the media headlines.
