Trump’s Malaria Drug Fails Another Trial On Covid-19 Patients

Cat:

Related stories

Visualizing Trump’s 2026 Budget Proposal

Key Takeaways The 2026 budget request includes a $114...

Umo Eno: Professing Love For Tinubu Without Joining APC, ‘Anti-party’

By Kolawole Ojebisi The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno,...

King Charles Recognizes Beckham’s Impact, Knights Ex-England’s Captain

By Kolawole Ojebisi After a sterling football career spanning two...

Tinubu Mourns Uwais, Says Ex-CJN ‘A Phenomenal Jurist’

By Kolawole Ojebisi President Bola Tinubu has extended his heartfelt...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s malaria drug which he touted as a “game changer” for coronavirus has again failed to show a benefit in hospitalised patients.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the use of hydroxycholoquine neither lessened the need for patients requiring breathing assistance nor the risk of death.

“We didn’t see any association between getting this medicine and the chance of dying or being intubated,” lead researcher Dr. Neil Schluger told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“The patients who got the drug didn’t seem to do any better.”

Among patients given hydroxychloroquine, 32.3% ended up needing a ventilator or dying, compared with 14.9% of patients who were not given the drug.

But doctors were more likely to give hydroxychloroquine to sicker patients, so researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center adjusted the rates to account for that.

They concluded that the drug may not have hurt patients, but it clearly did not help.

Decades old hydroxychloroquine, which is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, also showed no benefit when combined with the antibiotic azithromycin, Schluger’s team reported.

Azithromycin alone also showed no benefit.

Last month, doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported that hydroxychloroquine did not help COVID-19 patients and might pose a higher risk of death.

That analysis of medical records showed a death rate of 28% when the drug was given in addition to standard treatments, compared to 11% with standard care alone.

In the latest study, 811 patients got hydroxychloroquine and 565 did not.

Because they were not randomly assigned to receive hydroxychloroquine or a placebo, “the study should not be taken to rule out either benefit or harm” for the drug, researchers said.

Randomized trials, the gold standard for tests of new therapies, should continue, they added.

But for now, “the guidance in our hospital has changed so we don’t recommend giving hydroxychloroquine to hospitalised patients,” said Dr. Schluger, chief of the division of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at Irving.

Reuters/NAN

'Dotun Akintomide
'Dotun Akintomide
'Dotun Akintomide's journalism works intersect business, environment, politics and developmental issues. Among a number of local and international publications, his work has appeared in the New York Times. He's a winner of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Award. Currently, the Online Editor at The New Diplomat, Akintomide has produced reports that uniquely spoke to Nigeria's experience on Climate Change issues. When Akintomide is not writing, volunteering or working on a media project, you can find him seeing beautiful sites like the sandy beaches that bedecked the Lagos coastline.

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

[tds_leads input_placeholder="Your email address" btn_horiz_align="content-horiz-center" pp_msg="SSd2ZSUyMHJlYWQlMjBhbmQlMjBhY2NlcHQlMjB0aGUlMjAlM0NhJTIwaHJlZiUzRCUyMiUyMyUyMiUzRVByaXZhY3klMjBQb2xpY3klM0MlMkZhJTNFLg==" pp_checkbox="yes" tdc_css="eyJhbGwiOnsibWFyZ2luLXRvcCI6IjMwIiwibWFyZ2luLWJvdHRvbSI6IjQwIiwiZGlzcGxheSI6IiJ9LCJwb3J0cmFpdCI6eyJtYXJnaW4tdG9wIjoiMTUiLCJtYXJnaW4tYm90dG9tIjoiMjUiLCJkaXNwbGF5IjoiIn0sInBvcnRyYWl0X21heF93aWR0aCI6MTAxOCwicG9ydHJhaXRfbWluX3dpZHRoIjo3NjgsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6eyJtYXJnaW4tdG9wIjoiMjAiLCJtYXJnaW4tYm90dG9tIjoiMzAiLCJkaXNwbGF5IjoiIn0sImxhbmRzY2FwZV9tYXhfd2lkdGgiOjExNDAsImxhbmRzY2FwZV9taW5fd2lkdGgiOjEwMTksInBob25lIjp7Im1hcmdpbi10b3AiOiIyMCIsImRpc3BsYXkiOiIifSwicGhvbmVfbWF4X3dpZHRoIjo3Njd9" display="column" gap="eyJhbGwiOiIyMCIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTAiLCJsYW5kc2NhcGUiOiIxNSJ9" f_msg_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_input_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_btn_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_pp_font_family="downtown-serif-font_global" f_pp_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxNSIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTEifQ==" f_btn_font_weight="700" f_btn_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxMyIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTEifQ==" f_btn_font_transform="uppercase" btn_text="Unlock All" btn_bg="#000000" btn_padd="eyJhbGwiOiIxOCIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjE0IiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxNCJ9" input_padd="eyJhbGwiOiIxNSIsImxhbmRzY2FwZSI6IjEyIiwicG9ydHJhaXQiOiIxMCJ9" pp_check_color_a="#000000" f_pp_font_weight="600" pp_check_square="#000000" msg_composer="" pp_check_color="rgba(0,0,0,0.56)" msg_succ_radius="0" msg_err_radius="0" input_border="1" f_unsub_font_family="downtown-sans-serif-font_global" f_msg_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxMyIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTIifQ==" f_input_font_size="eyJhbGwiOiIxNCIsInBvcnRyYWl0IjoiMTIifQ==" f_input_font_weight="500" f_msg_font_weight="500" f_unsub_font_weight="500"]

Latest stories

NDN
Latest News
Trump asks aides if they think Musk’s behavior could be related to alleged drug use, source saysVisualizing Trump’s 2026 Budget ProposalUmo Eno: Professing Love For Tinubu Without Joining APC, 'Anti-party'King Charles Recognizes Beckham's Impact, Knights Ex-England's CaptainTinubu Mourns Uwais, Says Ex-CJN 'A Phenomenal Jurist'U.S. Remittance Tax Casts Shadow Over African EconomiesAkwa-Ibom Commissioner Defies Gov Umo Eno, Resigns, Says I Can't Join Gov In APCTrump Vs Musk: JD Vance Declares Support For US President Amid Online RowExclusive: Inside Details Of Sanwo-Olu’s Alleged Strained Ties With TinubuRevealed! The most beautiful city in AfricaElon Musk’s Fortune Plummets By $34 Billion As Feud with Trump EscalatesGov. Umo Eno: Why I Dumped PDP For APC[Video] Akwa Ibom: Gov Umo Eno Officially Defects to APC in Major Political ShiftOtedola Hails Dangote's Refinery As "Eighth Wonder Of The Modern Era"Tears as Mohammed Uwais, ex- Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dies at 89
X whatsapp