Quote:
Originally Posted by Byte1
It's interesting that NOW there is a problem with the same medication that they gave EVERY military member in Vietnam. Never heard of any problem with it then, and I bet they do not want to publicize any of the side effects now, other than by using it as a political weapon against one side or the other. If this is so dangerous, with side effects, then why has it taken almost 50 years to come to this conclusion?
A dying person is not going to worry about side effects if that is the only lifeline offered.
Kudos to those in our gov that are working hard to find some form of hope to offer all those that are currently suffering from the CHINA virus.
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You are misunderstanding the discussion. No one has ever claimed that HCZ is not a good anti-malarial or a good lupus/RA drug. This discussion is ONLY about whether it is beneficial for COVID, period. After a couple small reports of dramatic benefit the use of HCZ skyrocketed because frankly there was nothing else to offer. Since those initial positive results almost every subsequent study has shown no benefit from using HCZ in COVID.
Now, none of the reports yet presented has been a randomized study, those are coming. Most of them have been from doctors looking back on their patients, some of whom got HCZ, some didn't and using established statistical methods to see if the ones who got the drug did better. And the studies do balance for the age, gender, severity of illness at presentation, and many other factors when they can. All have weaknesses.
The initial positive studies had more weaknesses than most others, and the fewest patients, and claimed the most benefit from very short courses of medicine.
No one has been able to replicate Dr. Raoult's findings and it was his study that got the use of HCZ going.
I agree a dying person is not going to worry about side effects. The finding of the VA study was that in their population there was no benefit of HCZ, and the most important side effect was that you were more likely to die than if you were not given HCZ.
I find that conclusion bizarre and it is likely a statistical fluke, like flipping tails six times in a row. No other study has shown the drug kills you. But it is well known that HCZ can kill you if heart side effects are not monitored. The authors of this study, who were not bedside clinicians, did not extract or report on whether EKG's were being followed or not. If the conclusion is not a fluke, then HCZ is not a lifeline, it is a deathline for the patient population studied, older males ill enough to be hospitalized with COVID.