is no longer beating the hydroxychloroquine drum.
However at the height of Trump’s hydroxychloroquine fever, the federal government purchased millions of dosages. One adverse effects of that rush to judgment: Americans who use the drug to treat illnesses like lupus face scarcities.
Interest in hydroxychloroquine peaked in mid-March when it began to pick up celebrity endorsements from the similarity Elon Musk, who tweeted that “it might be worth thinking about” following some early Chinese research into the drug.
French scientist Didier Raoult helped rocket the anti-malarial to global prominence and Trump’s Twitter feed with a study of chloroquine and azithromycin. Raoult claimed the 2 produced “promising” lead to COVID-19 patients, which, he claimed, “open the possibility of a global technique to decisionmakers to eliminate this emerging viral infection in real-time.”
But Raoult’s study came under extreme criticism for its style and small sample size– and the International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, which released the post, later issued a statement saying it “does not fulfill the Society’s anticipated requirement.” Incredibly, the criticism did not dull the star recommendations with Dr. Oz and Laura Ingraham promoting the drug on Fox News.
