Hydroxychloroquine: What is being said?
By Brandon Showalter, CP
Reporter Monday, August 03, 2020
Unsplash/James Yarema
Debate over the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, a drug some say is an effective treatment for the coronavirus, has resurged amid the ongoing pandemic and Big Tech and social media platforms censoring medical professionals who promote it.
The persistent back-and-forth about the drug has continued in part because of fluctuating case numbers and growing deaths as vaccines and other therapeutics are being developed. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump brought attention to the drug after he said he had been taking it as a preventative measure. The president began the regimen following two White House staffers testing positive for the coronavirus. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro contracted the virus and has credited the drug for his recovery.
Still, some in the medical community say there is little to no evidence that it is a helpful treatment for the disease.
Below is a round-up of what has taken place in recent months surrounding this drug.
Drs. Birx, Fauci, others opposed: HCQ not effective
Among those who have said the drug for treating COVID-19 is not effective is Dr. Deborah Birx, who has been a key figure advising the president as the White House coronavirus response coordinator.
In a Thursday interview with Fox & Friends, Birx explained that while some say the drug is effective, it's more complicated.
"Science and medicine has always been full of accounts like this," she said, when asked about the doctors who spoke on Monday in favor of the drug, whose stories were subsequently scrubbed from the internet.
"And that's why you do randomized clinical trials, to actually be able to compare patient to patient," she said, noting that the doctors in the individualized practices had no controls.
Debate over the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, a drug some say is an effective treatment for the coronavirus, has resurged amid the ongoing pandemic and Big Tech and social media platforms censoring medical professionals who promote it.
The persistent back-and-forth about the drug has continued in part because of fluctuating case numbers and growing deaths as vaccines and other therapeutics are being developed. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump brought attention to the drug after he said he had been taking it as a preventative measure. The president began the regimen following two White House staffers testing positive for the coronavirus. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro contracted the virus and has credited the drug for his recovery.
Still, some in the medical community say there is little to no evidence that it is a helpful treatment for the disease.
Below is a round-up of what has taken place in recent months surrounding this drug.
Drs. Birx, Fauci, others opposed: HCQ not effective
Among those who have said the drug for treating COVID-19 is not effective is Dr. Deborah Birx, who has been a key figure advising the president as the White House coronavirus response coordinator.
In a Thursday interview with Fox & Friends, Birx explained that while some say the drug is effective, it's more complicated.
"Science and medicine has always been full of accounts like this," she said, when asked about the doctors who spoke on Monday in favor of the drug, whose stories were subsequently scrubbed from the internet.
"And that's why you do randomized clinical trials, to actually be able to compare patient to patient," she said, noting that the doctors in the individualized practices had no controls.
Thus far, in the randomized controls, there is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine improves those patients' outcomes, she said.
