[HN Gopher] Hydroxychloroquine Update for April 6
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       Hydroxychloroquine Update for April 6
        
       Author : hprotagonist
       Score  : 27 points
       Date   : 2020-04-06 16:02 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (blogs.sciencemag.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (blogs.sciencemag.org)
        
       | kevingadd wrote:
       | The possible high-mortality interaction with metformin is a
       | terrifying prospect. Diabetes is so common... hopefully it's
       | something that doesn't apply to humans.
        
       | m0zg wrote:
       | Counterpoint: http://www.leparisien.fr/societe/sante/chloroquine-
       | ne-perdon...
       | 
       | You can do double blind studies until your patients are literally
       | blue in the face, or you can try what works now. That is
       | literally the choice at the moment.
       | 
       | According to Peter Navarro, a good percentage of NYC patients are
       | getting HCQ at the onset of symptoms now. Kentucky is giving it
       | to patients, too. Italy saw its numbers of deaths stabilize once
       | they started giving it. Marseille (where Raoult's hospital is)
       | has the lowest fatality rate in all of France. If it works, we
       | should see the recoveries shoot up in 5-7 days.
       | 
       | HCQ is also available _over the counter_ in some countries, and
       | is given out like candy all over Africa where there's risk of
       | malaria.
        
         | kevingadd wrote:
         | The fact that you can buy the drug over the counter doesn't
         | mean it's universally safe. The people being hospitalized here
         | are already doing poorly so exposing them to additional risk is
         | not something you should just do on a whim. As the linked post
         | mentions, there are clear signs of potential risks associated
         | with the use of HCQ. I hope for the patients being dosed with
         | it now that it both works and is safe, but it's incredibly
         | reckless to go 'it's over the counter so it's fine'. A healthy
         | person taking a reasonable dose as a malaria countermeasure is
         | not the same as a person on a ventilator in the ICU. Their
         | immune system is in a different condition, so is their heart.
        
         | tptacek wrote:
         | Substantial numbers of C19 patients are being given HCQ, but
         | more than that, substantial numbers of newly-diagnosed C19
         | patients are _already taking HCQ_ , since it's part of the
         | standard of care for widespread conditions like rheumatoid
         | arthritis. And those patients will of course have had the HCQ
         | intervention before acquiring C19. It doesn't look like anyone
         | is reporting unusual clinical success for those patients, while
         | you can find clinical reports of QT disturbances (so: people
         | _are_ paying attention to this stuff).
        
         | ceejayoz wrote:
         | " You can do double blind studies until your patients are
         | literally blue in the face, or you can try what works now."
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician%27s_syllogism
        
       | ck2 wrote:
       | While other drugs are looking far more promising, there might be
       | an obvious reason why despite lack of clear proof/results the
       | president is pushing it so hard like everything else that
       | motivates him: https://lawandcrime.com/covid-19-pandemic/major-
       | producer-of-...
        
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       (page generated 2020-04-06 23:00 UTC)