FUTUREISM.COM – In news that’s sure to kickstart a wave of recriminations, researchers have estimated that almost 17,000 people died in six countries during the first COVID-19 wave due to the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).
The anti-malaria medication gained viral traction as a potential treatment against COVID even after scientific evidence failed to back up its efficacy.
A team of researchers from France, Canada and China revealed the findings in a new study published in the science journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.
They arrived at the number after performing statistical analysis on medical and hospital data about excess mortality.
“During the first wave of COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was used off-label despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits,” the researchers write.
HCQ use was associated with “a significant increase in cardiac mortality … ”
“Since then, a meta-analysis of randomised trials showed that HCQ use was associated with an 11 percent increase in the mortality rate.”
The scientists looked at data from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and America.
“Although our estimates are limited by their imprecision, these findings illustrate the hazard of drug repurposing with low-level evidence,” the scientists conclude.
Other existing medications had been repurposed to combat COVID because of their track record in treating viruses, like the HIV/AIDS drug ritonavir, the paper notes.
Some thought HCQ may be effective against COVID as well because it can stop viruses from reproducing and may block COVID virus receptors, but later research revealed that the medication had an “unfavourable risk-benefit balance” …
