The U.S. FDA banned
Hydroxycholoquine
use for COVID-19
even as doctors all over
the world have had
good results with that
cheap generic drug.
Especially when HCQ
is combined with zinc.
The FDA rescinded
its emergency use
authorization (EUA)
of hydroxychloroquine
(HCQ)
to treat COVID-19 patients,
citing concerns about
efficacy and risks
associated with its use.
The U.S.
government
failed to do
field studies
of physicians
treating Covid-19
patients in Europe,
or even in the U.S.
The following
percentages
of doctors
reported use
of HCQ+AZ
(AZ = antibiotic and zinc):
72% in Spain,
49% in Italy,
41% in Brazil,
39% in Mexico,
28% in France,
23% in the US,
17% in Germany,
16% in Canada,
13% in the UK
Harvey Risch
is a Professor
of Epidemiology
at the Yale School
of Public Health.
He compares the
top two treatments
in the USA --
the anti-malarial
drug HCQ, and
the anti-Ebola
drug Remdesivir.
In a 29 page review
he concludes that
with the US reopening,
and 10,000 people
dying each week,
they don’t have time
to wait for
randomized
controlled trials.
Patients need a drug
that can reduce the rate
of hospitalization,
and there is already
enough data to warrant
the use of HCQ + AZ
(Azithromycin and Zinc).
Remdesivir is
a newer drug
with mainly
lab and animal
research.
HCQ is an
old, cheap drug
with very low and
well-known risks.
It’s being used
for malaria in many
poorer countries
all over the world,
and many doctors
on the frontline
are convinced
that it helps
with COVID-19.
There are five trials
on the ClinicalTrials.gov
database for HCQ and AZ
in the outpatient setting.
One French study
shows an amazing
50 fold benefit
when started early,
and only (!)
a 25 fold benefit
when waiting until
the virus has progressed
to the lower respiratory
tract.
There was a seven-fold
benefit from taking AZ
at the same time.
The first study
of HCQ+AZ
was controlled,
but not randomized
or blinded, and
involved 42 patients
in Marseilles, France.
Six patients progressed,
stopped medication use,
and left the trial before
the day-6 planned outcome
measure of swab sampled
nasopharyngeal viral
clearance.
Including those
six patients
does not
much change
the 50-fold
benefit.
When the symptoms
progressed to a lower
respiratory-tract infection,
the benefit was 25-fold.
The average start date
of medication use
in this study was
day-4 of symptoms.
The 25-fold or
50-fold benefit
found in this study
is very unlikely
to be caused only
by a non-random
selection of patients.
The study showed a
7-fold benefit of taking
HCQ+AZ over taking
HCQ alone.
The study has been
described as “small,”
but that criticism
only applies to studies
not finding such a huge
statistical significance.
A second study
of the Marseilles group
involved 1,061 patients
who tested positive
for SARS-CoV-2,
treated with HCQ+AZ
for at least 3 days,
and followed
for at least 9 days.
The authors state
“No cardiac toxicity
was observed.”
Good clinical outcomes
and virological cures
were seen in 973 patients
(92%).
Five patients died,
and the remainder
were in various stages
of recovery.
In Brazil, 412 patients
were treated with HCQ
plus deoxycycline
(a different antibiotic).
Those treated
before day seven
had about one third
the chance of ending up
in a hospital, as those
who started treatment
later.
Adding zinc to
the combination
cut mortality
in half again:
HCQ+AZ has been
a standard-of-care
treatment at
the four New
York University
hospitals, where
a recent study
showed adding
zinc sulfate
to this regimen
significantly cut
both intubation and
mortality risks
by almost half.
The FDA FAERS
database contains
1,064 adverse events
for HCQ, including
200 deaths, but that's
low, because it covers
over 50 years of use,
and involves millions
of patients.
Many of those patients
were not using HCQ
for five days
(as Covid patients are)
-- they were using it
for months on end.
REFERENCE:
Risch, H. (2020)
American Journal of Epidemiology,
kwaa093,