There is substantial evidence to suggest that the drug is effective in treating Covid-19. Why are we not trying it?

By C. Boyden Gray

More than six months have passed since the president first tweeted about hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19. Since then, some studies have claimed that it works, and others not. But one thing we have learned unequivocally about hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 is that CNN, TheNew York Times, TheWashington Post, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the editor of TheLancet don’t want you to take it.

In fact, they would prefer that you not even talk about it. The less you know about it, the better. And they have felt this way consistently since the start of the pandemic, when there were hardly any studies to parse. To even call this situation a “debate” is a stretch, because the forces opposed to the drug’s use for Covid-19 haven’t debated, but rather have tried to shut down any journalist, doctor, or researcher armed with different data.

Hydroxychloroquine, a 70-year-old malaria drug that is also regularly used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, is inexpensive and has an excellent safety profile. It has been used to treat over two billion people. Before the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended that adults and children of any age could take it safely, including pregnant women and nursing mothers.

In March, the strongest evidence in favor of its use and efficacy for Covid-19 came from Marseille, from a small observational study conducted by the French epidemiologist Dr. Didier Raoult. In this and his own larger follow-up trials, Dr. Raoult has claimed success in treating Covid-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine, when used in combination with antibiotics.

Based on this information, pharmaceutical companies donated millions of doses to the government, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization, making the donated drugs available to hospitalized Covid-19 patients.

At the end of June and in early July, larger studies were published by the Mount Sinai Health System in New York and the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, both of which demonstrated that the anti-malarial drug cut the mortality rate for Covid-19 sufferers in half. In particular, the Henry Ford paper argued that the drug should be administered early in the disease progression in order to be effective.

The press reaction to these studies has ranged from the dismissive to the outright hostile. In May, The New York Times Magazine ran a nearly 8,000-word feature attacking Dr. Raoult personally. Neither CNN, nor TheNew York Times, nor TheWashington Post has even mentioned the Mount Sinai trial.

With respect to the Henry Ford study, the vitriol has been so great that, a month after they published, the hospital system issued an open letter announcing that they would no longer comment publically on their own research. As the Henry Ford doctors explained, “the political climate that has persisted has made any objective discussion about this drug impossible.”

The press went into overtime disseminating these findings. One physician told The Washington Post, “If there was ever hope for this drug, this is the death of it,” and Dr. Fauci declared on CNN, “the scientific data is really quite evident now about the lack of efficacy.” The science appeared to be settled.

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Source: Revisiting Hydroxychloroquine | The American Conservative