France bans use of malaria drug chloroquine to treat Covid-19 patients

essentialsaltes

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The move came after two French advisory bodies and the World Health Organisation warned this week that the drug - also used as treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus - had been shown to be potentially dangerous in several studies.

But under the new French rules, the drug can be used only in clinical trials to test its efficacy against coronavirus - making it unclear if Professor Raoult would be able to continue using it at his hospital in Marseille in the south.


So it can still be studied, but not prescribed by individual doctors to their patients.
 

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the World Health Organisation



warned this week that the drug - also used as treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus - had been shown to be potentially dangerous in several studies.

But under the new French rules, the drug can be used only in clinical trials to test its efficacy against coronavirus - making it unclear if Professor Raoult would be able to continue using it at his hospital in Marseille in the south.


So it can still be studied, but not prescribed by individual doctors to their patients.

Would trust nothing they have to say because,
they have lost all credibility.
M
 
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sfs

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So it can still be studied, but not prescribed by individual doctors to their patients.
That seems like a reasonable course. On the other hand, clinical trials have also been suspended in some cases because of concerns created by the Lancet study. An open letter to the Lancet signed by 140 researchers raises questions about that study and asks for more transparency about the data. (The open letter landed in my in box a couple of days ago, but I didn't have time to evaluate the issues in time to decide whether to add my name.)
 
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sfs

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Would trust nothing they have to say because,
they have lost all credibility.
The WHO has not lost credibility with those who work in global health. They've always been known to be a highly (and necessarily) political organization, but their recommendations about things like what medications to use are the gold standard in much of the world.
 
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