# Study released today showing effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin combo for COVID-19? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 23, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069 "2020-03-23T03:21:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/21 "2020-03-23T21:26:40Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > You know Doctor Oz is a quack, right? He isn’t a quack, he is a whore. He’ll support woo for money despite knowing better. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/22 "2020-03-23T21:29:25Z")
FTR: [https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/489097-man-dies-after-taking-malaria-medication-in-effort-to-prevent-coronavirus](https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/489097-man-dies-after-taking-malaria-medication-in-effort-to-prevent-coronavirus) Different chemical but be careful not to get ahead of yourself with “magic remedies”. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/23 "2020-03-24T00:32:42Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Is [hydroxychloroquine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxychloroquine) similar to quinine? Maybe we should all take up drinking gin & tonics again (My links added.) What, you ever stopped? 😕 ANAC but no, they appear unrelated, and are indicated for different sorts of malaria. You may recall Bob Dylan’s prescription: “If you have a bad cold, take a shot of malaria.” Is that tweeted much now? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/24 "2020-03-25T10:51:19Z")
Just heard back from a grade school/high school classmate who is an M.D. and Infection Control Director at a local(ish) hospital. He says they are using the protocol, but only in severe cases because the drugs are scarce and the evidence is weak. Unfortunately I think he is about to acquire a lot more evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/25 "2020-03-25T15:24:57Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > He isn’t a quack, he is a whore. He’ll support woo for money despite knowing better. Point taken. And he’s a full blown Trump shill. I watched the town hall on Fox News yesterday. Dr. Oz claimed with would be unethical NOT to give this untested treatment to anyone that requests it. Then he tried to prod Mike Pence into saying he would try the treatment if he were infected. To his credit Pence didn’t take the bait. Can’t find an article on it, but apparently Dr. Oz pulled the same crap on Fox and Friends, although the surgeon general threw some cold water on the quackiness. > **[Surgeon General Shuts Down ‘Fox & Friends’ for Hyping Unproven...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/surgeon-general-shuts-down-fox-and-friends-for-hyping-unproven-coronavirus-cure)** > > “It’s not practical to think we are going to treat our way out of this problem with new drugs or with ventilators or with supplies,” Adams warned the curvy-couched morning show. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/26 "2020-03-25T16:52:24Z")
The above statement regarding Pence might be a little misleading. When asked if he would take hydroxychloroquine Pence said he would follow his doctor’s directions. ---
**Author:** ![Joeu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joeu/32/2911_2.png) [@Joeu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joeu)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/27 "2020-03-25T16:54:54Z")
I highly recommend Dr. Matt McCarthy’s twitter feed (@DrMattMcCarthy). He’s an infectious diseases specialist at Weill Cornell here in NYC (and teaches Medical Ethics) and in addition to treating patients and supervising trials, he’s been great about tweeting accurate, comprehensive and trustworthy information as he gets it. Here’s a thread from earlier today about a trial of remdesivir (excluding hydroxycholorqine, which they are using in some cases not in the trial). > [@](#): > > Update: Gilead has suspended access to the experimental drug remdesivir due to “overwhelming demand.” It is now only available through clinical trials at select sites. My hospital is one of them. Here’s how our trials are designed. I am an investigator on these phase 3 studies. > > First trial is for severe disease, defined as 1) laboratory-confirmed COVID19 2) fever 3) abnormal chest x-ray and 4) oxygen saturation \< 94% on room air. All patients receive remdesivir: 200mg IV loading dose, followed by 100mg IV once daily. 1:1 randomization to 5 days or 10. > > Exclusion criteria: mechanical ventilation, multi-system organ failure, other experimental agents, including hydroxychloroquine in the past 24hrs. > > Second trial is for moderate disease, defined as: 1) laboratory-confirmed COVID19 2) fever 3) abnormal chest x-ray, and oxygen saturation \> 94% on room air. Randomization is 1:1:1 (remdesivir 10 days, remdesivir 5 days, local standard of care). Same exclusion criteria as above. > > Enrollment began just hours after Gilead suspended access via compassionate use. Incredible teamwork by clinical investigators (led by Dr. Kristie Marks) and the Institutional Review Board to fast-track these vital studies. They need to make an emoji for a standing ovation. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/28 "2020-03-25T18:03:06Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > … outside of marketing authorization [off-label use? my medical French is not so fabulous. If yours is better, please elaborate]. My French is OK, but so is the translation (on this point, anyway ;)). A Marketing Authorisation is, in Europe, the “approval” for a drug, and specifies the way that drug is used. So yes, this is talking about off-label use. (IANAD, but I did drug licensing for a living). j ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069/29 "2020-03-27T12:08:38Z")
There may be issues with the trial this Doctor ran…as well as with the Doctor himself. > **[Chloroquine genius Didier Raoult to save the world from COVID-19](https://forbetterscience.com/2020/03/26/chloroquine-genius-didier-raoult-to-save-the-world-from-covid-19/)** > > As COVID19 pandemic rages on, French microbiologist Didier Raoult offers a cure. President Trump is convinced, but is Raoult’s research reliable, here and in general? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/study-released-today-showing-effectiveness-of-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-combo-for-covid-19/850069.md?page=1)