Posted on 04/03/2020 11:40:54 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
On Saturday the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of two antimalarial drugs, hydroxychloroquine and a related medication, chloroquine, for emergency use to treat COVID-19. The drugs were touted by President Trump as a “game changer” for COVID-19.
However, a study just published in a French medical journal provides new evidence that hydroxychloroquine does not appear to help the immune system clear the coronavirus from the body. The study comes on the heels of two others - one in France and one in China - that reported some benefits in the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for COVID-19 patients who didn’t have severe symptoms of the virus.
I am a medicinal chemist who has specialized in discovery and development of antiviral drugs for the past 30 years, and I have been actively working on coronaviruses for the past seven. I am among a number of researchers who are concerned that this drug has been given too much of a high priority before there is enough evidence to show it is indeed effective.
There are already other clinical studies that showed it is not effective against COVID-19 as well as several other viruses. And, more importantly, it can have dangerous side effects, as well as giving false hope. The latter has led to widespread shortages for patients who need it to treat malaria, lupus an rheumatoid arthritis, the indications for which it was originally approved.
The idea that the combination of hydroxychloroquine with an antibiotic drug, azithromycin, was effective against COVID-19 gained more attention after a study published on March 17. This study described a trial of 80 patients carried out by Philippe Gautret in Marseille, France. Although some of their results appeared to be encouraging, it should also be noted that most of their patients only had mild symptoms.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I’m confused. Perhaps a little “slow”. You are trying to claim my 40 years as a physician is irrelevant? What is your profession? Or would that be rude?
Went to my PCP today. Asked about HCQ and Azithromycin. They claimed it was not approved by FDA so they could not administer it.
Great summary. That’s what I’ve been saying for the longest time since HCQ was presented to the public for CoVid-19.
As I read Dr. Raoult’s studies in Marseille, France and Dr. Vladimir Zelenko’s treatment protocol on nearly 800 patients in upstate New York, I also conclude that HCQ + Azithromycin is most effective in Covid-19 positive patients who exhibit symptoms but are NOT YET at the point of intubation.
With these patients, HCQ + Azithromycin has been shown to be effective at:
1) Shortening a patient’s stay in the hospital, thus,reducing significantly the burden of healthcare workers.
2) Preventing further progression of the disease by modulating the immune system’s response to the virus and thus helping it attack the invader.
Anecdotal evidence in many parts of the USA do show that it even helps patients already on respirators recover, however, this still needs to be studied.
RE: They claimed it was not approved by FDA so they could not administer it.
Show them this article:
Which is not true. We all know the FDA changed their recommendation. Truth is there is nothing stopping a physician from prescribing Robitussin for infertility. “We might as well try!” That is until they get sued and then they are on their own. Which might explain the reluctance of your local physician.
As I have said before, we have people who have held themselves out for years, decades, in the case of NEJM CENTURIES (est. 1811) as the “leaders” who have fought their way into these exalted positions based on merit. They have held themselves out as a National Resource the entire time. They are familiar with the research required to answer these questions that demand urgent answers. Many of them probably know the French Team personally. What do they have to say? Why aren’t they talking? Where is the Chairman of Infectious Disease at Mass General? Johns Hopkins? These people have been editors of their publications for years. Yet while the American public is being buried under a storm of marketing they remain silent. Why? Why are we being told to believe a Primary Care doc from NYC? And a flurry of anecdotes?
These people OWE us and it’s time for them to speak up.
Yep, it’s a coordinated effort to deny this treatment to drive up the death count and hopefully defeat Trump. The left doesn’t even care of their own family members die, as long as Trump loses. That shouldn’t be a surprise, they are and think exactly like the ChiCom’s, human life is cheap. Only I’d say the left is more dangerous because they are in fact “evil” in the true sense of the word. They are driven by their lust for power, however, it’s their hatred that is the fuel, and they want to eliminate us, in a literal fashion.
Correct - it is statistically meaningless, too small a sample.
If YOU get it DON’T TAKE IT. Simple. The rest of us may LIVE, you might DIE.
Oh well.
No mention if they used zinc or not like some of the other studies.
Thanks for that.
I agree, but for mild to moderate symptos it seems to do the trick
Never ever start something too late. by that point the virus is entrenched.
Forget it, Jake - it’s Maryland.
Are you in Maryland, as your home page indicates?
If the bastards are not using zinc with HCQ the results are flawed.
Interesting...if true.
What are the clinical consequences of giving “false hope” to people that are seriously ill with the disease? Afraid they might run off on a ski trip, instead of convalescing?
The media is searching for docs who will promote their point of view, while burying a majority of opinions that go counter to it.
“In summary, despite a reported antiviral activity of chloroquine against COVID-19 in vitro, we found no evidence of a strong antiviral activity or clinical benefit of the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for the treatment of our hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19.”
Dr. Stephen Smith’s findings are that early intervention with hydroxychloroqine/azithromycin prevent his patients from ever becoming severe.
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.