Nearly 17,000 people may have died from hydroxychloroquine: study

Nearly 17,000 people across six countries may have died from taking hydroxychloroquine (HQC) during the first wave of coronavirus infections in 2020, according to a new analysis published by French researchers. There is sex.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug that was taken off-label to treat COVID-19 during the early stages of the pandemic as researchers and doctors scrambled to find ways to fight the disease. Prescribed. It was also suggested as a preventive measure.

In February and March 2020, the treatment was widely promoted for use based on preliminary reports suggesting its potential efficacy against COVID-19. However, subsequent studies found that the drug not only had no effect, but also significantly increased the risk of death.

Researchers in Lyon, France, and Quebec, Canada say that “despite a lack of evidence of clinical benefit,” health care providers are still treating some patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The patient is prescribed hydroxychloroquine.

The analysis found that an estimated 16,990 excess deaths in six countries were likely attributable to hydroxychloroquine use: Turkey, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and the United States.

The researchers analyzed other studies that tracked the relative risks of hospitalization, hydroxychloroquine exposure, and drug-related death.

The toxicity of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19 was partially due to cardiac side effects, such as abnormal heart rhythms.

However, the researchers noted that while that number was likely an underestimate, it was also likely a significant overstatement.

The study period was only from March to July 2020, and there was a general lack of data from most countries. They said the actual number of deaths related to hydroxychloroquine could be between 3,000 and 30,000.

The number of deaths related to hydroxychloroquine around the world is “clearly underestimated due to a lack of research in regions such as Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia, Africa, and South America,” the researchers said. is writing.

Because the countries studied had a combined population of approximately 600 million people, the researchers concluded that the actual number of deaths from hydroxychloroquine was “lower than HCQ in the first wave and subsequent waves in many countries.” Given the widespread use of

The Food and Drug Administration granted temporary emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine on March 28, 2020, but it was revoked on June 15, 2020. Former President Trump repeatedly promoted the drug, touting hydroxychloroquine and a related drug called chloroquine as potential “miracles.” ”

“What do you have to lose? Embrace it,” President Trump said during a White House coronavirus briefing.