As an epidemiologist trained to make causal inference, especially from observations, I feel strongly that there is an urgent need for an open and honest debate on the ability of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to save lives. I had not paid much attention to discussions related to the efficacy of pharmacological interventions in the treatment of Covid-19…
Tag: Drugs
Rolling Stone reports “Big Pharma’s Covid-19 Profiteers”
How the race to develop treatments and a vaccine will create a historic windfall for the industry — and everyone else will pay the price On June 29th, 2020, while America remained transfixed by anti-police protests, the chairman and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Gilead issued a much-anticipated announcement. In a breezy open letter, Daniel O’Day…
Lanier Law Firm reports “TAMIFLU FRAUD BILKED $1.5 BILLION FROM GOVERNMENT, ALLEGES WHISTLEBLOWER”
Drug company Hoffmann-La Roche (OTCMKTS – RHHBY) bilked U.S. federal and state governments out of $1.5 billion by misrepresenting clinical studies and falsely claiming that its well-known influenza medicine Tamiflu was effective at containing potential pandemics, according to a recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit. The lawsuit claims the drugmaker’s scheme involved publishing misleading articles falsely stating that Tamiflu reduces complications, severity, hospitalizations,…
Stat News reports “The U.S. government contributed research to a Gilead Remdesivir patent — but didn’t get credit”
Two documents dating back to 2015 shed further light on the role the federal government played in discovering remdesivir and its use in treating coronaviruses — work that has taken on new meaning as the Gilead Sciences (GILD) drug has gained global attention and an emergency use authorization from federal regulators to treat patients with…
Harvard University reports “Risky Drugs: Why The FDA Cannot Be Trusted”
A forthcoming article for the special issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics (JLME), edited by Marc Rodwin and supported by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, presents evidence that about 90 percent of all new drugs approved by the FDA over the past 30 years are little or no more effective for patients than existing drugs. All…
AE Daily reports “U.K. Scientists Say Hydroxychloroquine May Still Have Promise, No Drug Has Been Politicized Like This”
British scientists have said hydroxychloroquine may still have promise as a preventive treatment for COVID-19 but the drug has become so politicized that studies investigating whether or not it is effective are being hampered. The goal is to investigate whether or not hydroxychloroquine and the related drug chloroquine are effective in preventing or reducing the…
Covid-19 Refusers hosts censored video “HCQ Cures Covid”
We’re America’s Frontline Doctors. We’re here only to help American patients and the American nation heal. We have a lot of information to share. Americans are riveted and captured by fear at the moment. We are not held down by the virus as much as we’re being held down by the spider web of fear….
Orthomolecular Medicine News reports “COVID-19 How can I cure thee? Let me count the ways”
It seems ludicrous to mandate mask wearing at all times, indoors and outdoors, although this is being given consideration by some governmental (and medical) authorities at the time of this writing. However, this advice only scratches the surface with regard to the numerous options available to avoid contracting this infection, or to even cure it….
Henry Ford Health System Study shows “Treatment with Hydroxychloroquine Cut Death Rate Significantly in COVID-19 Patients”
Treatment with hydroxychloroquine cut the death rate significantly in sick patients hospitalized with COVID-19 – and without heart-related side-effects, according to a new study published by Henry Ford Health System. In a large-scale retrospective analysis of 2,541 patients hospitalized between March 10 and May 2, 2020 across the system’s six hospitals, the study found 13% of those treated…
Scientific American reports “Shortcuts in COVID-19 Drug Research Could Do Long-Term Harm, Bioethicists Worry”
Compassionate use of experimental medicine needs to coexist with scientific rigor to help patients, researchers write in the journal Science Does a widespread medical emergency justify speedier, and sometimes less rigorous, ways to test treatments and evaluate results? Doctors and patients urgently need to get their hands on drugs for the COVID-19 pandemic.But bioethicists Jonathan Kimmelman…