An Update On Hydroxychloroquine Trials...

I made the following comment in a post-script to a post earlier in the week:

"Speaking of COVID-19... I have not been commenting on this stuff from a scientific point of view because it is not my field....However, regarding the two early 'clinical' trials for hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin from the same French group that many folks are talking about, it is hard to argue with Derek Lowe and David Gorski that a significant issue is the very basic fact that both studies lack a control group."


There is now an update based on a new trial:

"Update, April 1st....A new, not yet peer-reviewed, study reporting on a small scale trial in China suggests some efficacy for hydroxychloroquine when given to patients with mild symptoms...Importantly, this one does have a control group...Here's the NYT report...Here is the study itself."



Please understand that I am not weighing in as an expert here. As I said before, this is not my field. However, I didn't want to leave anyone hanging who read my earlier comment.

The real message here is that it will be important to see what the true experts have to say about this new trial and the results of other ongoing trials when they are released. Derek Lowe has already weighed in here and does not find serious fault with the new study's design or the data generated.

In the meantime, I sure hope a supply of the compound has/is being secured for those folks with autoimmune issues (i.e. lupus) where the drug is known to be effective.



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