Posted on 04/23/2020 10:20:25 AM PDT by sickoflibs
The Veterans Health Administration released the results of a study on the efficacy of the drug hydroxychloroquine on patients being treated for COVID-19. The study was funded by grants from the National Institute of Health and the University of Virginia. Researchers found that not only did the drug show no benefit, it may have actually caused harm. Study results can be viewed in the medRxiv online depository.
Researchers included data from 368 COVID-19 patients. 97 were treated with hydroxychloroquine, 113 were administered a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin and 158 received “standard supportive management” for COVID-19. Here’s what they found:
The two primary outcomes analyzed in the study were death and the need for ventilation.
About 28 percent who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died, versus 11 percent of those getting routine care alone.
About 22 percent of those getting the drug plus azithromycin died too, but the difference between that group and usual care was not considered large enough to rule out other factors that could have affected survival.
Hydroxychloroquine made no difference in the need for a breathing machine, either.
The researchers said, “In this study, we found no evidence that use of hydroxychloroquine, either with or without azithromycin, reduced the risk of mechanical ventilation in patients hospitalized with Covid-19. An association of increased overall mortality was identified in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone. These findings highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomized, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs.”
Researchers did not track side effects but noted hints that hydroxychloroquine might have damaged other organs. The drug has long been known to have potentially serious side effects, including altering the heartbeat in a way that could lead to sudden death.
This was not a peer reviewed study.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Veterans Affairs issued a statement by email to Fox News which read, “This was not a clinical trial. It is simply an analysis of retrospective data regarding hospitalized patients. The findings should not be viewed as definitive because the analysis doesn’t adjust for patients’ clinical status and showed that hydroxychloroquine alone was provided to VA’s sickest COVID-19 patients, many times as a last resort.”
ounds pretty grim considering the promising results we’ve seen from other studies.
As you would expect, the mainstream media was thrilled with the bad news about the drug that President Trump has been touting.
One of the studies that showed positive results was conducted by French Dr. Didier Raoult. His study included 1,061 patients who were treated with a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin and demonstrated 91% effectiveness with zero side effects.
Upon hearing the surprising results of the VA study, Dr. Raoult reviewed their findings and discovered several glaring instances of “scientific misconduct.” Fox News’ Laura Ingraham reported on Raoult’s response on her program Wednesday night. (Video of this segment is at the bottom of the page.)
Ingraham read about the first problem from Raoult’s response, “In the current period, it seems that passion dominates rigorous and balanced scientific analysis and and may lead to scientific misconduct and this article [VA findings] is an absolutely spectacular example of this. The analysis of the data shows two major biases…Lymphopenia is twice as common in the HCQ groups as the non HCQ group and there is an absolute correlation between lymphopenia and fatality rate, which is well known.”
One of the major problems Raoult found was that the HQC and the HQC/Zpak were given after the patient’s had been intubated. “This is unreasonable at the time of the cytokine storm [after patient is critically ill], as it is unlikely that HCQ alone would be able to control patients at this stage of the disease.”
Ingraham translates: “The later you take HCQ, the worse the outcome will be.”
The second problem: “Incomprehensibly, the ‘untreated group’ actually received azithromycin in 30% of cases, without this group being analyzed in any distinct way. Azithromycin is also a proposed treatment for COVID-19 (Gautret 2020) with in-vitro efficacy.”
Well, then you can’t call these patients untreated. I suppose we won’t be seeing any media coverage of the serious problem Raoult discovered in the VA study.
It looks as if the VA researchers had been trying to achieve a particular result.
From the Associated Press to CNN, the press gloated over the VA report when it was released. Below is a tweet from Jake Tapper. Needless to say, it didn’t go over well.
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper One can’t Sharpie an untested drug into safe status
69.5K 5:20 PM - Apr 22, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 17.1K people are talking about this
Mo Mo @molratty · 14h How about we leave this to the experts at the FDA. Is that too much to ask, Doc? https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1253071219844399104 …
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper One can’t Sharpie an untested drug into safe status
Mo Mo @molratty Still wrapping my head around a bunch of ostensible adults pontificating about the lack of safety of a drug that's been on the market for 65 years solely because Trump said something positive about it. It's mind blowing.
1,195 11:04 PM - Apr 22, 2020
359 people are talking about this
Mo Mo @molratty Really? You don't say. I've never heard this before in my 19 years of practice in pharma patents and FDA approvals. You're right. I should listen to Jake Tapper instead. I'll be sure to cite him in court briefs. https://twitter.com/PallasTweet/status/1253161911337619456 …
Pallas Tweet @PallasTweet Replying to @molratty Just because a drug may be safe to take for a particular condition does not mean that it is safe to take for another condition under other circumstances. That is why the FDA often states under what circumstances a drug can be prescribed and for which conditions.
1,561 11:23 PM - Apr 22, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 422 people are talking about this
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper · 19h One can’t Sharpie an untested drug into safe status
Adeptus Archer the Needlessly Defiant @ArcherMint It really is astonishing that you journalists lie like this and NO ONE from your profession has any problem with it.
36 9:43 PM - Apr 22, 2020
15 people are talking about this
Jake Tapper ✔ @jaketapper · 19h One can’t Sharpie an untested drug into safe status
GayPatriot, maybe @GayPatriotTM Do you know that most oncology drugs are prescribed off-label???
What happened to you, man?
258 8:02 PM - Apr 22, 2020
43 people are talking about this
There’s no mention of zinc anywhere in this article, either. I thought that was an important part of the cocktail.
The VA has been corrupt and incompetent for decades. President Trump has been trying to clean it up but it can’t be done overnight.
This was clearly a fake “study” with predetermined (for political reasons) results.
THEY HAVE STOLEN MY BON-BONS!!
It’s a fake study. Download the study and look at table 4 and compare it to the results on page 2. They added 19 of the sickest patients to the HC cohort AFTER they needed ventilators.
So
unds like they only gave it to patients who they expected to die within the next 24 hours.
Ingraham played clips of how the story was being played on other networks, and I noticed the absolute glee with which this “news” was being reported. This shows what kind of people they are: they would - literally - rather have people die a terrible death than be cured, just because they want Donald Trump to be wrong.
ALL DEMOCRATS ARE VILE, EVIL, VICIOUS, LYING DESTROYERS of GOOD PEOPLE and GOOD THINGS!
This is the VA, National Health Service (UK), and Medicare for All model - save money, resist giving treatment until the last minute, then blame the treatment for the failure.
I also noticed how all the networks dropped their normal caveats about the study’s “small sample,” “lack of controls,” “lack of peer review,” and “anecdotal” quality when it came to reporting this story.
Troubling information: BUT! This story is of course what ABCNNBCBS is publicizing.
Zinc weakens cellular walls to allow the medicine to become more effective.
Other way around. HCQ opens cell walls so Zinc can enter. Zinc inhibits the replication of the virus.
Human cells do not have walls. Plant cells have walls.
Is Dr. Raoult lying? I doubt it.
Sorry, bad choice of words on my part.
It is not a physical barrier.
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