Another day, another headline about hydroxychloroquine, the drug embroiled in a weeks-long controversy over its value in treating COVID-19.
Hydroxychloroquine has been politically charged because President Donald Trump has reportedly taken the anti-malaria drug, believing it might help him ward off the coronavirus.
But this week, the conversation took an interesting turn. Scientists around the world have disputed the validity of some of the scientific research that had called into question hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness in helping treat COVID-19. They say a particular dataset being used in a number of coronavirus studies — including one that examined hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 mortality rates — is flawed. If the dataset isn’t good, that might also call into question some of the conclusions made by studies relying on the dataset.
In May, a paper published in The Lancet found an association between prescribing hydroxychloroquine and a similar drug, chloroquine, with an increased risk of irregular heartbeat and death among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. These conclusions were highly influential and cast doubt on the safety of hydroxychloroquine — as well as prompted the World Health Organization to halt its own investigation into the drug.
