Latest COVID-19 research study reveals hydroxychloroquine causes more harm than good

On Tuesday, April 21, preliminary results from the largest study to date about the benefits and detriments of using the antimalarial and immunomodulatory drug hydroxychloroquine with or without the antibiotic azithromycin was published online before review by other scientists. Paid for by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia, the results submitted to the New England Journal of Medicine show that hydroxychloroquine seems to cause more deaths to patients who have SARS-CoV-2 than other available treatments. The drug made zero difference in regards to breathing improvement.

Researchers reviewed the medical data of 368 men who had confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 and were treated at United States Veterans Health Administration medical centers across the country over a period of time that ended on April 11. In their conclusion, the researchers wrote that they found “no evidence” that hydroxychloroquine reduced risk associated with “mechanical ventilation.” They also found an “association of increased overall mortality.” Approximately 28 percent of 98 patients given the drug died versus 11 percent of the remaining patients who didn’t receive it. The drug might have also caused organ damage in addition to related symptoms from the virus. Additionally, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are both known to cause heart rhythm irregularities.

As the researchers explained: “These findings highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomized, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs… Subsequent studies have not identified a similar benefit of hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 and concerns have been raised about the original positive study.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/21/malaria-drug-virginia-coronavirus-study-198590

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.16.20065920v1.full.pdf