Posted on 04/21/2020 10:57:21 AM PDT by TECTopcat
More deaths, no benefit from malaria drug in VA virus study By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
This Monday, April 6, 2020 file photo shows an arrangement of hydroxychloroquine pills in Las Vegas. According to a study released on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in an analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals. There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers report. ( Hydroxychloroquine made no difference in the need for a breathing machine, either.
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.
Earlier this month, scientists in Brazil stopped part of a hydroxychloroquine study after heart rhythm problems developed in one-quarter of people given the higher of two doses being tested.
Many doctors have been leery of the drug.
At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, “I think we’re all rather underwhelmed” at what’s been seen among the few patients there who’ve tried it, said Dr. Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control and prevention.
Patients asked about it soon after Trump started promoting its use, “but now I think that people have realized we don’t know if it works or not” and needs more study, said Safdar, who had no role in the VA analysis.
The NIH and others have more rigorous tests underway.
___
Marilynn Marchione can be followed on Twitter: @MMarchioneAP
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Hey - chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, cyanide, sulfuric acid - they all have letters in them, and stuff, so why get nitpicky about what they do when you take them?
Be sure to add sugar or Stevia to counteract the bitter almonds taste of the cyanide, though...
Marianne Marchlone (AP medical writer) appears to have skipped or slept through high school chemistry, the class where one is supposed to learn about hydroxide anions.
Zinc was not used in the study at all.
BIG DIFFERENCE. Similar drugs, but hydoxychloroquine was developed SPECIFICALLY because chloroquine had too many side effects.
I don’t know. Just on the face of it this looks like a pretty good study. I think even you would admit this is quantum levels above anything “Dr Lev” has produced. The one thing I wanted to see was more detail on the labs. They just left it like “everybody got labs” but these labs look like admission labs. It would have been nice to see some progression of the disease but that’s just icing on the cake, it isn’t part of the study. They were just showing everybody’s labs on admission were pretty identical.
One thing I noticed on the labs, fairly normal white counts, fairly normal platelet counts. It would indicate to me they got these people fairly early and not “in extremis”.
On the face of it it looks like this answers the question. Let’s see what the Editors of The Journal of Infectious Disease have to say. It should be interesting. Now they have something to talk about their silence is REALLY unacceptable.
One thing I would point out that I stumbled over....more
Indeed, I have no expertise, but for sure all these other people can cut and paste. And it took someone five seconds to find the correction and the obvious fallacy of the report.
You know, you say you are crusty, I am becoming quite crusty dealing with idiots.
Garbage “study” of medical records. Do the exact same “study” on the use of ventilators... 80% death rate.
Dude. Anesthesiologists, in my experience, generally make the best Intensivists.
How many of your patients where in deep throws of hypoxia that were saved by this drug combo without using an IL-6 inhibitor?
This is late stage in the game.
How many were about to be put on a ventilator or on a ventilator that were saved just by this drug combo?
As to the narrow issue of the ventilator — I will give you that. We put people on vents WAY TO QUICKLY because of fear that the virus would aerosolize under NIPPV. We literally went from NC (thats nasal cannula for Rummychick so she doesn’t attack a reasonable conversation) to mechanical ventilation. We bypassed 3 - 4 options that would temporize. Positive pressure vent management is not a great thing and does cause problems that must be balanced against the risk
I think the fear of the spread via NIPPV really hurt a lot of patients. I will point out, this is my OPINION (which again the fearpers cannot distinguish between opinion and fact)
Well, maybe crusty gas_dr is available? Sometimes, I am hesitant to look at certain threads because I already know what I am going to see. I may have to go on blood pressure medication soon.
Doesn’t take much knowledge to be a chief medical writer and it takes even less humility.
33 to be exact. I have not used IL-6 as of yet as I have had no reason to.
It was tongue-and-cheek.
I apparently am going to have to start drinking — and I dont drink!
How many were actually on a ventilator that were saved just with hydrochloroquine and/or zpak or doxycycline
Tempers are pretty touchy these days. I’ve had to count to ten quite a few times lately.
That is one of the benefits of working from home the last month. HR doesn’t know my little secret.
The left and many on the right will keep throwing this out there because President Trump was the first that I know of to publicly see its merits. The Trump haters will NEVER stand for that. It doesn’t matter if lives are saved or not to them. President Trump could find the vaccine for COVID-19 and they would react the same: He’s not a doctor. President Trump could save a kid from drowning and they would ask why he is doing that,he’s not a lifeguard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.