Practitioners doubt the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19

As the debate on hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness over COVID-19 intensifies, a significant number of physicians across the globe still presume that patients should consume the drug to treat the symptoms of COVID-19.

However, the anti-malaria drug, which was termed as the game-changing drug in this epidemic by President Trump, has recently failed to show any benefit on a patient admitted in Veterans Health Administration medical facilities.

According to an analysis, the two primary outcomes of hydroxychloroquine when tested on COVID-19 patients was death and the requirement for mechanical ventilation.

Evidently, this analysis was steered retrospectively on the basis of data from confirmed coronavirus patients hospitalized in every Veterans Health Administration medical facility. Apparently, the study examined just 368 patients but established a base conclusion from the collective outcomes of COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine.

Hydroxychloroquine has now become the most demanded drug across the world, even though there is no strong evidence to support the claims that it can benefit COVID-19 patients. This has created a supply gap for both azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine.

Currently, there are numerous prospective, randomized studies of hydroxychloroquine that could help medical practitioners to gain an understanding on the effects and benefits of these drugs in COVID-19 patients and would eventually offer key information about the efficacy and safety of the drug.

As per a survey conducted by healthcare data collection firm, Sermo, almost one-quarter (i.e. 5,158) of over 20,000 physicians worldwide think that the anti-malarial drug would be useful against the coronavirus infections. However, the evidence on the medical benefits of hydroxychloroquine hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet.

For now, many hospitals are prescribing the drug to COVID-19 patients with a hope that it shows a drastic improvement in patient health despite any evidence over its effectiveness.

Source Credit: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/493931-largest-analysis-of-hydroxychloroquine-use-finds-no-benefit-increased