A new French retrospective study claimed hydroxychloroquine caused nearly 17,000 deaths when used on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. But experts contended the analysis relied on flawed data, ignored evidence showing efficacy with early outpatient treatment, and amounted to a political attack on HCQ pioneer Dr. Didier Raoult.
Nearly 17,000 people in the U.S. and five other countries “may have died” early in the pandemic because they used hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat COVID-19, according to a paper published in the February 2024 issue of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.
Major media outlets, including Politico, The Hill and Forbes ran with the headline.
However, physicians and scientists interviewed by The Defender said the study’s authors based their conclusions on flawed data and ignored the large body of evidence showing the efficacy of HCQ for early, outpatient treatment of the virus.