WHO Pauses Research Into Hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 Treatment | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

The author of this post is Tim Pearce.


    The World Health Organization has stopped research into hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug touted by President Donald Trump, as a potential treatment for Covid-19.

    WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the "temporary pause" on Monday after a study published last week found that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine increased the risk of heart problems and death for coronavirus patients, according to The Associated Press.

    "This concern relates to the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in Covid-19," Tedros said. Both drugs are on the WHO's "Model List of Essential Medicines" for treating malaria and certain auto-immune diseases.

    A study published in the medical journal The Lancet on Friday showed the results of a multi-national analysis of the impact of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in patients diagnosed with Covid-19.

    "We were unable to confirm a benefit of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, when used alone or with a macrolide, on in-hospital outcomes for COVID-19," the study says. "Each of these drug regimens was associated with decreased in-hospital survival and an increased frequency of ventricular arrhythmias when used for treatment of COVID-19."

    The WHO's decision comes after Trump announced he had been on a hydroxychloroquine regiment for about two weeks on May 18. The president said many doctors and nurses are already making wide use of the drug for themselves and their patients.

    "You'd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the front-line workers before you catch it. The front-line workers - many, many are taking it," Trump said. "I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it."

    Chloroquine has been in use as an anti-malarial drug since its discovery in 1934 and has been a central part in fighting malaria globally since the 1950s. The efficacy for treating coronavirus patients with chloroquine, and its more stable counterpart hydroxychloroquine, is still being debated by scientists and researchers studying it.

    Trump began touting hydroxychloroquine around the same time that a small but promising study by a French researcher appeared to show that the drug helped coronavirus patients recover faster and with less severe symptoms.

    Trump's May 18 announcement elicited strong reactions from pundits and politicians. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump should not be taking the drug because of its dangers to "morbidly obese" people.

    White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany later knocked Pelosi and other critics of the president's announcement for ignoring that the drug has been in wide use for decades and that many doctors are using it to treat Covid-19.

    "Some of the misreporting on other networks - these apoplectic [analyses] of hydroxychloroquine - ignore the fact that tens of millions of people around the world have used this drug for other purposes," McEnany said.

    "The president has said pretty widely that this is a drug that he had looked at with optimism," she added. "But nevertheless he said that this is a decision that must be made with a doctor, as he's repeatedly said."
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Trump Praises Veterans, Projects Optimism in Memorial Day Public Address Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics The Coming Ballot Harvest Tsunami


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

most voters think EU officials not doing a good job on illegal immigration
Be careful what you wish for, you may get it
Come from behind by GOP candidate is a blueprint to 2024
Biden spending and energy policies to blame
Tuberculosis carried by illegal invaders has already infected Texas cattle
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the only campaign promise President Joe Biden has delivered on as president is the complete dismantling of the U.S. southern border.
Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day: military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
President Joe Biden’s brother told the Internal Revenue Service that Hunter Biden told him he was in business with a “protege of President Xi,” referring to the leader of China, according to notes by an IRS investigator that were divulged during a congressional interview of Jim Biden.

HbAD1

Gov. Roy Cooper seeks a temporary restraining order to block a law changing the composition of the State Board of Elections.
X owner Elon Musk mocked a news segment from ABC News this week that promoted President Joe Biden’s talking points about the Democrat-led Senate’s failed border bill, which critics and many experts have said would make the situation on the border worse.
That’s the question Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab sought to answer in a recent webinar on the topic.
The University of Florida has fired all of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees and shut down its DEI office.
Hot on the heels of its highly publicized television performance on New Year's Eve, the pop-punk band Green Day announced the release of an edgy new album titled Get the Vaccine, Climate Change Is Real, and Trump Is Bad.
Glenn Beck: 'When the United States government can come after individuals, that's when you know our republic is crumbling.'
Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) reportedly blasted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for “stonewalling” details about the illegal immigrant accused of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia college student.
Financial asset manager BlackRock said in its annual report that environmental, social, and governance policies could hurt its bottom line after Republican state officials cut ties with the company over its ties to China and climate activism.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top