It’s still an initial study, not the kind of double blind controlled study that is the gold standard of drug studies. But the largest study to date, based on data from the VA, shows that hydroxychloroquine, the purported miracle drug repeatedly touted by President Trump, showed slightly MORE deaths from COVID19 among those who were treated with the drug.
Late Update: TPM Reader JB is an MD at a major academic medical center. He writes…
“Just slow down there a minute, cowboy. It’s a retrospective study. That means medication choice was up to the docs. Look at Table 2: The patients who got HC or HC + azithro were more likely to have poor oxygenation, have high blood pressure, have anemia, have high levels of inflammation at baseline! Usually, the sicker you start, the worse you do.
I’m just saying that this should allow the real clinical trials the space to get done.
If they do submit to NEJM, they will need to show a lot more information than this preprint.
Here is the link to the pre-print study itself.
