THE DATA (STILL) SUGGEST “NO”
New data out of the Detroit area find that hospitalized COVID patients receiving hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) were less likely to die than those not receiving the drug. Sensational headlines ensued.
The scientific community sighed in disappointment and frustration. Why?
(1) Administration of HCQ was NOT RANDOMIZED
(2) The HCQ and non-HCQ patient groups had VERY (!) DIFFERENT underlying health profiles and age distributions. It’s impossible to separate out the mortality impacts of these differences from any potential impact of HCQ
A note of context: Multiple randomized trials have demonstrated NO BENEFIT of HCQ for COVID patients (link below). Indeed, the data from these randomized trials are so convincing that several scientific teams have halted HCQ arms in ongoing research (link below).
Another note of context: While the HCQ data are disappointing, other treatments are demonstrating very hopeful signals (link below). And related research is happening at breakneck speed. Stay tuned, stay positive.
Article links:
Multiple randomized trials demonstrating no benefit of HCQ
