Trump suggests hydroxychloroquine may protect against Covid-19. Researchers say there's no evidence of that

[ghost]

Trump suggests hydroxychloroquine may protect against Covid-19. Researchers say there's no evidence of that

By Gina Yu, CNN

 

Updated 9:43 PM ET, Sun April 5, 2020

 

(CNN)President Donald Trump has twice tested negative for the coronavirus, but during a briefing at the White House on Saturday, he said he "may take" the drug hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19. He suggested it has protective effects against the novel coronavirus, although researchers say there's no evidence of that.

 

 

"I think people should [take hydroxychloroquine]," he told reporters at a White House press briefing on Saturday. "If it were me, in fact, I might do it anyway. I may take it ... I have to ask my doctors about that. But I may take it."

Trump said lupus patients -- who are often treated with hydroxychloroquine -- seem less likely to contract Covid-19, and that "there's a rumor out there" and "there's a study out."

"Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. Why don't you investigate that?" he asked.

At the briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said, "We don't have any definitive information to be able to make any comment." He also said the relationship between lupus and Covid-19 is currently under investigation.

 

Experts do not suggest taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive for Covid-19 because there is no evidence yet to suggest it protects against contracting the virus.

"We need evidence and science, not fear and anxiety to drive these decisions," said Dr. Saira Sheikh, director of the University of North Carolina Rheumatology Lupus Clinic and director of the Clinical Trials Research Program at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Thurston Arthritis Research Center.

Hydroxychloroquine may also cause side effects and could be dangerous to otherwise healthy individuals, she said in an email to CNN.

'I would not endorse it myself'

Hydroxychloroquine is generally considered safe but side effects do happen, according to Dr. Jeffrey Sparks, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

 

Side effects include changes in heart rhythm, which can cause sudden death, severe rashes and dangerous allergic reactions, Sparks said.

"I think it's too early to really endorse its wide use," he said. "I would not endorse it myself."

As a treatment for Covid-19, there also hasn't been much research on hydroxychloroquine. There are no randomized controlled trials and most data on patients has been extrapolated from small, single center studies, according to UNC's Sheikh.

While there's no definitive proof at this point that the drug works for Covid-19 patients, doctors have seen the impact of the White House endorsement of the drug for use against the coronavirus.

 

Sparks said some of his rheumatologic patients have had to look for hydroxychloroquine in different states due to shortages, for example.

"The impact of President Trump's comments will be detrimental to the subset of patients that require hydroxychloroquine to control their disease," said Dr. Alfred Kim, an assistant professor of medicine and rheumatology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"The patient population that is the most vulnerable are the lupus patients because hydroxychloroquine is the only drug known to prolong survival of these patients," he said.

Are lupus patients less likely to get Covid-19?

At the press briefing, Trump also referenced a study that he said showed lupus patients who were taking hydroxychloroquine were protected against Covid-19, which puzzled experts.

"That statement from Trump was a surprise," Kim said.

CNN has reached out to the White House regarding the lupus study to which Trump had referenced but has not received a response at the time of publication.

 

There are no published studies specifically looking at the relationship between lupus patients on hydroxychloroquine and Covid-19, according to Kim.

The one thing Kim said he found was a sentence in the introduction of a non-peer-reviewed study from researchers in Wuhan, China, who said they had no lupus patients infected with Covid-19 in their follow-up surveys. They did not indicate whether these lupus patients were included in the original study, which looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine treatment for Covid-19.

"Typically through the peer review process, a line like that would be expunged," said Kim. He added there was no data in the article to back up the sentence and that the study wasn't intended to evaluate lupus and Covid-19, just hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 generally.

In contrast, there have been patients with lupus and other rheumatologic conditions on hydroxychloroquine diagnosed with Covid-19, according to the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance.

The alliance keeps a registry of rheumatologic patients diagnosed with Covid-19 from around the world. Patients from every continent except Antarctica are represented in this database, according to Brigham and Women's Hospital's Sparks.

 

Both Kim and Sparks are members of the alliance and hope physicians will add their patients to this registry to help understand how rheumatologic conditions such as lupus -- which require drugs that may dampen immune systems and autoimmune diseases -- are affected by Covid-19.

If anything, because lupus patients are on immunosuppressive drugs, they might be at increased risk of Covid-19 infection compared to the general population, Sparks said.

Kim said he's concerned about Trump's comments on hydroxychloroquine.

"We hope that [hydroxychloroquine] ends up being effective," he said. "But at this time, the risk benefit may actually backfire and harm more people than help."

CNN's Michael Nedelman contributed to this report

 

CNN

[dhjohns]

I am so tired of the constant drivel coming out of the mouth of this Adderall addict.

Edited April 6, 2020 by dhjohns

[ghost]

These are actual doctors and medical experts and not some Trump University faculty of medicine fraudsters. This is COVID-19 and not Covfefe-19.

 

 

 

[radeonxt]

2005 study showing hcq's effectiveness against SARS a coronavirus like COVID19

https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-422X-2-69

 

https://twitter.com/ABC7/status/1246998628331163649

 

https://archive.fo/3HNi3

 

https://twitter.com/RossFairchild/status/1242478029206585344?s=20

 

https://newsd.in/anti-malarial-drug-currently-only-remedy-for-covid-19-experts/

 

https://abc7news.com/coronavirus-drug-covid-19-malaria-hydroxychloroquine/6079864/

 

https://nypost.com/2020/04/05/ny-coronavirus-patients-being-treated-with-anti-malarial-drug/

 

https://abc7ny.com/health/la-doctor-seeing-success-with-hydroxychloroquine-to-treat-covid-19/6079864/

 

https://nypost.com/2020/04/02/hydroxychloroquine-most-effective-coronavirus-treatment-poll/

 

https://techstartups.com/2020/03/28/dr-vladimir-zelenko-now-treated-699-coronavirus-patients-100-success-using-hydroxychloroquine-sulfate-zinc-z-pak-update/

 

https://twitter.com/niro60487270/status/1246350920436215808?s=20

 

https://www.trustnodes.com/2020/03/29/italy-finally-starts-mass-treatment-with-hydroxychloroquine

 

https://twitter.com/philbak1/status/1242884995733245960?s=20

 

www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1348&v=EFRwnhfWXxo

 

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/bahrain-claim-success-anti-malarial-drug-coronavirus.html

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-update-on-the-coronavirus-treatment-11585509827

 

In São Paulo, the Prevent network had 96 deaths from coronavirus until March 22, almost half of all deaths reported by the government of São Paulo. Today they have only one person in the ICU.

https://www.direitacurvelo.com.br/hospital-de-sao-paulo-cria-protocolo-que-pode-revolucionar-tratamento-do-virus-chines-no-mundo/

 

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2020/03/25/covid-19-bahrain-one-of-the-first-in-the-world-to-use-hydroxychloroquine-for-treatment

 

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/03/12/South-Korea-experts-recommend-anti-HIV-anti-malaria-drugs-for-COVID-19/6961584012321/

 

https://techstartups.com/2020/03/18/breaking-controlled-clinical-study-conducted-doctors-in-france-shows-hydroxychloroquine-cures-100-coronavirus-patients-within-6-days-treatment-covidtrial-io/

 

Lost,Hawaii 5-0 actor

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/22/daniel-dae-kim-credits-hydroxychloroquine-coronavi/

 

 

 

 

[ghost]

Hydroxychloroquine and Covid-19: an explainer

[ghost]

Heated disagreement breaks out in Situation Room over hydroxychloroquine

[rasbridge]

Detroit Democratic representative says hydroxychloroquine, Trump helped save her life amid Covid-19 fight

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/06/democrat-karen-whitsett-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine-trump/2957897001/

 

-----

"Coronavirus outbreak: World turns to India for anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine"

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/coronavirus-outbreak-world-turns-to-india-for-anti-malaria-drug-hydroxychloroquine/ar-BB12enZT

-----

"Is Hydroxychloroquine the Cure for Coronavirus?  Global Scramble for Tablets Suggests so"

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/techandscience/is-hydroxychloroquine-the-cure-for-coronavirus-global-scramble-for-tablets-suggests-so/ar-BB12cODG

Edited April 6, 2020 by rasbridge

[ghost]

I am not a medical expert or claim to be an expert on anything. But, if the US top medical experts are saying the studies are too small we need further studies to have a definite answer. I tend to listen to them. I also would like to point out, Deaths are known to occur when taking chloroquine.

[dufus]

out again  😜

[rasbridge]

Los Angeles doctor seeing success with hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19

 

 "Every patient I have prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symtom-free...So, clinically, I am seeing a resolution."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/la-doctor-seeing-success-with-hydroxychloroquine-to-treat-covid-19/ar-BB12cfG5

[ghost]

1 hour ago, rasbridge said:

Los Angeles doctor seeing success with hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19

 

 "Every patient I have prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symtom-free...So, clinically, I am seeing a resolution."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/la-doctor-seeing-success-with-hydroxychloroquine-to-treat-covid-19/ar-BB12cfG5

hydroxychloroquine works for some, but not on others; thus it cannot be called a "cure". More studies are needed because they wanted to find out more of the whys and why nots in a larger scale. 

Dr. Fauci who is a leading expert on the US COVID-19 task force has publicly stated numerous times that more data is needed to draw a conclusion. At the moment there are no indications it will work on a larger scale.

 

Placebos are given to certain people, all of a sudden they get better does that mean sugar pills work? can it be called a cure?

 

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by ghost

[Karlston]

4 hours ago, ghost said:

can it be called a cure?

 

No. Media loves to sensationalise things. Calling a treatment a cure will get more attention.

 

When someone's seriously ill and there's a benign treatment which may help, it should be administered.

[ghost]

2 minutes ago, Karlston said:

 

No. Media loves to sensationalise things. Calling a treatment a cure will get more attention.

 

When someone's seriously ill and there's a benign treatment which may help, it should be administered.

Very true, my friend... Sorry, I ran out of reactions... 

[ghost]

Quote

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen breaks down the recent trend of some people to hoard hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat several diseases that some speculate could potentially help treat coronavirus, though no studies have concluded. Meanwhile, many of those who rely on the drug to manage their illnesses are unable to get it.

Video: Trump's speculation caused some to hoard this drug

[rasbridge]

Hydroxychloroquine studies are underway in New York and across Europe to see whether the treatment works.  According to Sanofi CEO, Paul Hudon, "on hydroxychloroquine, you know, we give it away free."

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/sanofi-ceo-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine

[ghost]

8 minutes ago, rasbridge said:

Hydroxychloroquine studies are underway in New York and across Europe to see whether the treatment works.  According to Sanofi CEO, Paul Hudon, "on hydroxychloroquine, you know, we give it away free."

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/sanofi-ceo-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine

Thank you for posting this. That is all i was trying to say is do the necessary studies and see if it works. Then proceed according to the findings. 

[rasbridge]

Major medical group specializing in respiratory disorders has endorsed using Hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19

https://nypost.com/2020/04/06/medical-group-backs-giving-hydroxychloroquine-to-coronavirus-patients/

[ghost]

'These aren't Tic Tacs': Author Eden Robinson on her experience with hydroxychloroquine

 

Article & audio about the side effect of hydroxychloroquine

[rasbridge]

New York doctor claims to have healed 500 patients using a cocktail of hydroxychloroquine, Z-pak, and zinc sulfate

Source: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/10/one_america_news_ny_doctor_finds_success_treating_covid-19_patients_with_hydroxychloroquine_cocktail.html

[rasbridge]

"Former NFL player who recovered from the coronavirus says hydroxychloroquine worked great as a treatment"

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/former-nfl-player-who-recovered-from-the-coronavirus-says-hydroxychloroquine-worked-great-as-treatment

[ghost]

Study seeks 1,600 Albertans with COVID-19 to see if drug can keep symptoms from worsening

[ghost]

Trump tones down the hydroxychloroquine hype

[ghost]

US FDA warns against use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19

[ghost]

Canada warns against chloroquine use as coronavirus treatment