New study casts doubt on hyrdoxychloroquine’s effectiveness in treating coronavirus vs. standard existing best practice for conventional care

Tech Crunch ^ | 03/25/2020 | Darrel Etherington

[SeekAndFind]

In a prime example of why President Trump shouldn’t be endorsing any unproven potential treatments for the novel coronavirus behind the current global pandemic, a new small-scale study by researchers in China indicates that the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine actually isn’t any more effective than standard, existing best practice for conventional care of patients with the virus.

The study, which included 30 patients with a control of 15 who received no treatment, with the other half being treated with hydroxychloroquine, showed that there was a statistically insignificant difference in the number of patients who tested negative for the drug after a week. During the study, those who received conventional treatment were provided anti-virals that are currently recommended for use in China, including Iopinavir and ritonavir, and after a week, 13 of the 15 control patients showed no sign of the virus, while 14 of the 15 who were treated with hydroxychloroquine showed the same.

An earlier small-scale study of 30 patients by French researchers published last week had shown indication that hydroxychloroquine used alone was effective in reducing the duration and severity of COVID-19, while using it in combination with an antibiotic called azithromycin increased its effectiveness. The study has been criticized by some for its methods – which is the entire purpose of scientific study and medical research, wherein people submit their studies for peer review prior to publication, and then other researchers challenge their assumptions, results and findings.

Trump is obviously not a scientist or medical professional, and yet he has been touting the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine during the White House’s daily coronavirus task force press briefings, and on Twitter, including when he called for them to be “put in use IMMEDIATELY” on March 21.

[nikos1121]

Yeah yeah... So, why are hospitals here and in China and in South Korea treating infected people with a regimen that includes hydroxychloroquine, and have been for weeks?

[Labyrinthos]

The study, which included 30 patients with a control of 15 who received no treatment, with the other half being treated with hydroxychloroquine, showed that there was a statistically insignificant difference in the number of patients who tested negative for the drug after a week. During the study, those who received conventional treatment were provided anti-virals that are currently recommended for use in China, including iopinavir and ritonavir, and after a week, 13 of the 15 control patients showed no sign of the virus, while 14 of the 15 who were treated with hydroxychloroquine showed the same.

Where are Lopinavir and ritonavir manufactured? China by any chance?

By my math, 86.67% of those patients treated with an anti-viral drugs had no symptoms after a week; and 93.3% of patients treated with anti-malaria drugs had no symptoms after a week. The anti-malaria drugs were 6.66% more effective.

[tiki]

So says China.

[metmom]

What a huge study sample.

[5by5]

More TDS. Thanks, TechCrunch.

So chloroquine works slightly better than the super expensive high tech antivirals.

Wow. This is almost as dumb as the governor of Nevada banning the use and the idiot who drank fish tank treatment.

[rlmorel]

I will say, since day one of his Administration, President Trump has been consistent on this point: If a drug has been deemed safe for human consumption under the care of a doctor, that doctor should be allowed to administer it to people without the FDA having to approve it for that use.

He has been touting the “right-to-try” since his 2018 State of The Union address and even before, and this should be even less controversial.

If a drug has been deemed safe for human consumption, the FDA should not be an obstacle to use in “off label” situations under a doctor’s care, although I am sure there are likely exceptions to this.

How the FDA got into efficacy versus safety over the years is likely a long story...but it has become a roadblock to finding uses for approved drugs.

[wastoute]

One ?. Are there any RA patients who were taking Plaquenil among the dead? It should take milliseconds to answer this question. Why don’t we have that answer?

[McGruff]

a new small-scale study by researchers in China indicates

LOL

[Drango]

We will know in 7-10 days. With luck sooner.

[null and void]

"a new small-scale study by researchers in China indicates that the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine actually isn’t any more effective than standard, existing best practice for conventional care of patients with the virus."

Small scale, China, not peer reviewed.

Cheap, well understood, readily available Hydroxychloroquine was as effective as more expensive, newer, and less available Iopinavir and ritonavir.

Headlines givith, body of story taketh away...

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

The false positive rate was 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's or one old fart’s life, it's worth it.

[Bobalu]

Perhaps it’s not as effective when used to treat Asians?

I hope not, I want it to help everyone.

[fatman6502002]

It’s not that I don’t like the results, its that I don’t trust research and studies from china. The communist party must approve every bit of news that comes out of china and they pay thousands of western journalists, dupes, to spread their propaganda and lies. The rule of thumb for any western journalist or fake news reporter should be to not believe any statements that or research or studies that come from communist chinese sources. You cannot be serious that you believe this BS.

[PigRigger]

It shows it works... using s far less costly drug that is more readily available...

This is fake news at its finest.

“During the study, those who received conventional treatment were provided anti-virals that are currently recommended for use in China, including Iopinavir and ritonavir, and after a week, 13 of the 15 control patients showed no sign of the virus, while 14 of the 15 who were treated with hydroxychloroquine showed the same.”

[WildHighlander57]

It can be made here. In West Virginia. Factory is gearing up.

[freedomlover]

If nothing else this virus shows how deep TDS is - if Trump has even a suggestion of hope of saving lives it must be quashed as all costs -

[trebb]

So - did they include any who were in the process of dying?

Looks more like something designed to trash a potential tool than an actual study....(imagine Gomer Pyle's voice) Surprise surprise surprise....

[SeekAndFind]

Well, if you don’t trust the studies in China, then you would not trust the OTHER studies coming out of China that calls the use of Hydroxychloroquine a BREAKTHROUGH (Yes the word was used) in the treatment of CoVid-19.

In fact the initial data from Hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness came from studies made in China. It was simply replicated in Korea, France and here in the USA.

But please READ the article. The impressions the headline gives doesn’t even match the study’s result.

What this particular study shows is that Hydroxychloroquine *is* just slightly more effective than the conventional expensive drugs being used.

What the author fails to mention is this -— Hydroxychloroquine is WAY CHEAPER!

[hawkaw]

I absolutely agree with you. This TDS is just over the top.

[moehoward]

“ 13 of the 15 control patients showed no sign of the virus, while 14 of the 15 who were treated with hydroxychloroquine showed the same.

An earlier small-scale study of 30 patients by French researchers published last week had shown indication that hydroxychloroquine used alone was effective in reducing the duration and severity of COVID-19”

So it can show the same results as other treatments or is effective by itself. What a BS headline.

[lonestar67]

Oops tech crunch:

“ The study, which included 30 patients with a control of 15 who received no treatment, with the other half being treated with hydroxychloroquine, showed that there was a statistically insignificant difference in the number of patients who tested negative for the drug after a week.”

That’s not the key concept presence of the virus not the drug should have been the question. You lose.