Posted on 08/16/2020 8:06:09 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
Bill Gates this week added more flame to the fire in the ongoing debate over the usage of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, claiming that using the drug to treat the coronavirus carries with it the risk of "severe side effects" and arguing that medical officials should instead pursue the numerous "good therapeutic drugs" currently in development.
Yet there is at present little evidence that "severe side effects" are common in COVID-19 patients who take hydroxychloroquine, with the majority of reported adverse events being relatively mild and only a small fraction of reported effects so far being dangerous and/or fatal.
The drug, which has been used for years to treat malaria and other conditions like lupus, has been at the center of a medical and political firestorm since March when President Trump touted the medicine as a possible effective treatment for coronavirus. Numerous medical officials have claimed that it offers no benefit to COVID-19 patients, while others have insisted that it is highly effective when used in certain circumstances, specifically on high-risk patients early in the course of the disease.
Asked by Bloomberg magazine about the controversy on Thursday, Gates—who has been at the forefront of funding and advocacy efforts to find both a cure and a vaccine for COVID-19—said that though we live "in age of science ... sometimes it doesn’t feel that way."
"In the test tube, hydroxychloroquine looked good," he said. "On the other hand, there are lots of good therapeutic drugs coming that are proven to work without the severe side effects."
Studies do not show major prevalence of severe side effects
Numerous studies across the world over the past several months have produced mixed results on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19, with some showing marked benefits and others indicating that it does not help patients recover from the disease.
Yet regardless of study outcomes, severe adverse health events associated with the drug appear to be comparatively rare.
One randomized trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month stated that, while the study's treatment with hydroxychloroquine "did not prevent illness compatible with Covid-19 or confirmed infection," there were nevertheless "no serious intervention-related adverse reactions or cardiac arrhythmias" reported by study participants.
"Nausea, loose stools, and abdominal discomfort were the most common side effects," the researchers stated. A study out of England in July similarly found "no excess of new major cardiac arrhythmia" among patients treated with the drug.
Another study released in July stated that diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting were the most common side effects; as with the study released in August, researchers stated that "no serious adverse events attributable to the study drug occurred." A study earlier this year out of Marseille, France, said that all adverse effects observed in the HCQ trial "were mild and included mostly gastrointestinal symptoms," though they did report cardiac issues in a few dozen patients out of 3,737.
One study published in May, in contrast, found an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias among COVID-19 patients taking the drug. The Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, has said it has received reports of "serious heart-related adverse events and death" in patients taking the medicine.
Harvey Risch—a Yale epidemiologist who has been highly vocal in his advocacy of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment for certain patients—acknowledged that the drug can indeed cause fatal cardiac issues, but he argued the risks were very small compared to what he said were the potential benefits of the drug.
"The main 'side effects' are [gastrointestinal] disturbances especially at higher doses," he told Just the News. "About 10% of users of 400mg/day may have slight nausea or some diarrhea. It is manageable over a 5-7 day course."
"The serious side effect is fatal cardiac arrhythmia," he said, but he argued that data indicate it is expected to occur in about 9 users per 100,000, a number he argued "must be compared" to the many more deaths he claimed the drug could prevent.
The Food and Drug Administration did not respond to queries on Friday seeking comment on the matter. The Gates Foundation also did not respond to queries on Friday asking for clarification on the "severe" adverse events to which Gates was referring.
Didn’t realize Gates was a physician, and pharmacologist..
The FDA (F&ck Doctors American) lies, murders,
evades, and dares murder Americans by false statements
and denying MDs (certified real docs) their options,
and Americans their options.
Instead, they award Gates and “MD”.
BS. Chloroquin has severe wide effects.
DEFUND FDA. DEFUND the murderous FDA.
Severe side effects?
Like being cheap, effective and well understood?
and arguing that medical officials should instead pursue the numerous "good therapeutic drugs" currently in development.
OK, everyone with COVID put it on hold for a few months while we wait for drugs from the future.
Severe side effects????
Yes.
The body rejects ventilators.
Hospitals empty out.
Masks drop off.
And much more.
Gates is, he’s like a god, he knows all, ALL! Let’s all build a golden idol to him, Bill Nebuchadnezzar Gates!
The Corporate Communists are shameless.
If need be, he’s a physicist, nuclear scientist, engineer and astronaut :)
Whatever he needs to be at the time to push his agenda of killing humans, making a fortune and making believe he is a god.
The 4 trillion a month medication will be the one the FDA approves...even though its results have been mixed at best.
I HAVE TO believe that in some way gates will gain financially from the use of that medication..forget the name
I think it’s kind of humorous that the same liberals and media outlets that mock anything Trump says about COVID because “We don’t take advice some billionaire that knows nothing about medicine”, treat Bill Gates like he Moses on the mount when he speaks even though Gates is as much “Some Billionaire that knows nothing about medicine” as Trump is.
Didn’t realize Gates was a physician, and pharmacologist..
Lets not forget salesman.
Severe side effects... TO HIS BANK ACCOUNT
He’s also a Microbiologist and an Epidemiologist.
What? a disease has been politicized? The left is willing to let people die so as to deny Trump any credit?
I think this was the stuff they gave me when I deployed to Iraq in 03. I took it for a week and everyone else decided to quit taking it cause it might blow up your heart. And there weren’t many mosquitos in the desert.
There are better therapeutics coming online. Rlf-100 being one.
Gates has gone over the edge because he is no longer relevant. He also losing money and slave labor in other countries.
Compromise? Trump voters get hydroxychloroquine, Biden voters get Bill and Fauci’s “vaccine”... it’s only fair!
Yeah...I’m wondering when Bill Gates received his medical doctor and pharmacology degrees?......havIng billions of dollars doesn’t infer some sort of special knowledge....he puts his shoes on the same way as anyone else...stick to computer software where you do have some expertise....
Hope Gates is on first trip to Mars
This wrinkled creep has turned out to be a Soros clone, a demonically energized anti-Christ person that smiles a lot.
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