hydroxychloroquine works and your buddies lied and said it didnt.
Hydroxychloroquine has been studied for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The FDA had approved an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on March 28, 2020 to allow distribution of hydroxychloroquine to treat adults and adolescents who weigh at least 110 pounds (50 kg) and who are
hospitalized with COVID-19, but who are unable to participate in a clinical study. However, FDA canceled this on June 15, 2020 because clinical studies showed that hydroxychloroquine is unlikely to be effective for treatment of COVID-19 in these patients and some serious side effects, such as irregular heartbeat, were reported.
The FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) state that hydroxychloroquine should ONLY be taken for the treatment of COVID-19 under the direction of a doctor in a clinical study. Do not buy this medication online without a prescription. If you experience irregular heartbeats, dizziness, or fainting while taking hydroxychloroquine, call 911 for emergency medical treatment. If you have other side effects, be sure to tell your doctor.
Hydroxychloroquine: MedlinePlus Drug Information
Does WHO recommend hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19?
WHO does not recommend hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19. This recommendation is based on findings from 6 trials, with more than 6000 participants, who did not have COVID-19 and received hydroxychloroquine. Using hydroxychloroquine for prevention had little or no effect on preventing illness, hospitalization or death from COVID-19. Taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19 may increase the risk of diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, drowsiness and headache. More information can be found
here.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Hydroxychloroquine
Hundreds of (mostly small) clinical trials were launched in the spring of 2020 to evaluate if hydroxychloroquine could prevent or treat COVID-19. According to publicly available data, 247 such trials were registered.
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In this gold rush, some of these trials competed for the same patients including, unfortunately, trials that we collectively participated in. Regrettably, before the first randomized controlled trial was complete,
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hydroxychloroquine became a cause célèbre. It was endorsed by an array of notable (and polarizing) individuals and supported by a variety of confounded observational studies. Many providers began prescribing the drug
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and patients began to either request hydroxychloroquine or, alternatively, to fear it due to the ensuing public pushback against the public promotion of this unproven treatment and a high-profile article which was subsequently retracted.
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Consequently, most outpatient trials failed to enroll to completion, and none were independently large enough to definitively refute a small benefit in this setting.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X(22)00085-0/fulltext