# Unfortunately, I think the media is setting up Trump for a big win on Hydroxychloroquine. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 6, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190 "2020-04-06T15:21:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/41 "2020-04-06T19:31:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Based on what evidence? Based on\* lack\* of evidence. All we have so far is wishful thinking. If that worked, homeopathy would be mainstream science and astrology would be used instead of DNA tests. Perhaps you didn’t read these posts, #28 & 34, so I will repeat them here. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I’m down on it because IT HAS BEEN STUDIED AS A POTENTIAL ANTI-VIRAL FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND IT HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY AND REPEATEDLY SHOWN TO BE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNEFFECTIVE. > \ > VIRAL DISEASES IN GENERAL ARE STILL UNCURABLE. That is why we place so much emphasis on prevention and vaccine. > \ > Hydroxychloroquine isn’t even an anti-viral. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > …It’s just not an effective anti-viral. It’s not a new idea, it’s an old idea that resurfaces every so often and it has never panned out. > > But there will continue to be anecdotal reports of success because in most cases the disease is self-limited. Most untreated patients will start getting better at some point. And if they are taking that drug, they will attribute it to that drug. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/42 "2020-04-06T19:32:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Based on what evidence? > > I’m not trying to be flippant or dismiss the possibility of a useful thing, but jumping into broad clinical trials because a moron on TV heard about a thing one guy said he did doesn’t strike me as being an effective use of limited resources. > > Drug companies ARE looking into this… in limited early phase work, as they should be. Drug companies HAVE been looking at this drug as a potential anti-viral. For years and years. It has been consistently found to be ineffective. Even the “positive” results are contradictory. That YouTube video\* posted by a Jim Peebles, contradicts a bunch of the other allegedly positive results. That doctor claims the treatment ( that other doctors claimed success with) is totally ineffective unless you add another magic ingredient- in this case, zinc. Which contradicts most of the other anecdotes. Here’s an example of an earlier study, properly conducted, that showed that it is completely ineffective in preventing flu. Not a YouTube video. > **[Chloroquine for influenza prevention: a randomised, double-blind, placebo...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21550310/)** > > National Medical Research Council, Singapore. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/43 "2020-04-06T19:34:26Z")
Am I the only person on the SDMB who’s been on hydroxychloroquine? I keep hoping someone else will chime in. I was on it for six years for lupus. I can state unequivocally that it does NOT prevent or cure viral infections. I had the flu while I was on it as well as a couple of colds. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/44 "2020-04-06T19:43:54Z")
As it happens with the climate change issue, the issue really is about Trump willfully ignoring expert advice. > **[Why Trump Is Overruling Scientists to Pursue His Pet Coronavirus Drug](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/trump-fauci-navarro-giuliani-scientists-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine.html)** > > President heeds Rudy Giuliani, Peter Navarro, and Fox News personalities over medical experts. > [@](#): > > But against the scientists stand a collection of pseudoscientists who have gained the president’s ear. “Dr. Oz,” a celebrity doctor whose views have been denounced by medical authorities, has gained Trump’s attention with a flurry of Fox News appearances touting hydroxychloroquine. Trump “made a point of telling aides that he was interested in what Oz had to say and that he wished to speak to the much-maligned television personality,” reports the Daily Beast. > > Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has repeatedly lobbied Trump to adopt hydroxychloroquine, which he has falsely described as “100 percent effective.” Giuliani told the Washington Post that he hasn’t discussed his views with Fauci, “I’m sure he thinks I am an ignoramus,” he concedes. Upon realizing that one of the country’s most prestigious scientists considers them an ignoramus, most laypeople would begin to question their own views, but Giuliani operates at a level of self-confidence that few people can fathom. Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has enlisted in the cause. In a bizarre episode, he confronted Fauci at a Saturday White House meeting, denouncing his caution. > > Whether Giuliani and Navarro are even qualified to advise the president in their stated areas of expertise — law and economics, respectively — is a matter of serious dispute. For both to emerge as self-styled medical authorities during a pandemic is beyond unnerving. Even the best anecdotes about how effective this is (Not really a cure, but at best a tool to lower the symptoms so as to allow other solutions to work), like one I noticed, had a doctor that reported that this medicine needed Zinc to make a significant difference. Now, I noticed that Zinc is not usually mentioned in the previous incomplete studies made before, meaning that there is a lot of wishful thinking is going into this. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/45 "2020-04-06T19:47:26Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > As a non-doctor but as a person who does have a grasp on how poor people are at working with statistics and probabilities, I would say that it makes sense to perform testing on novel cures and treatments in some cases and for some possible therapies. > > Whether a composite of hydroxychloroquine paired with some other medication has hit a high enough bar that it should be part of any sizable study, when you could use those same patients to test alternative potentials, I couldn’t say. You shouldn’t put all of your eggs in a single basket. But you also need to ensure that you’re including enough patients in each study that you can actually get real numbers out of the result. Where the correct trade-off point is, I don’t know. But the way to find that answer is to crunch numbers, not to blare one thing or another on the media. > > There are people who can do math who are involved in the medical industry. I don’t need to have an opinion and nor do you need to have one. The math will turn out a relatively objective answer on it, and that should be the only thing that matters in terms of what gets included in national testing and how many people are put under the study. Sure, and I’d love to see some good cites from people who actually do know what they’re talking about (specific to COVID-19 and addressing some of the anecdotal evidence that it does work.) And for a mass audience, not journal articles. I know I’m asking for a unicorn given how busy everyone who knows anything must be, but the fact that I didn’t find anything like that is why I’m posting here. I’m also unwilling to accept that I don’t need to have an opinion. I’m not saying I’m going to second-guess experts, but that a) I have natural curiosity and want to understand, b) it’s part of being an informed citizen, and c) health experts’ expertise doesn’t extend to other realms. They can tell us the facts, the risks, and the likely outcomes, but they are not the people who get to decide if those risks are worth taking, or how to trade off economic pain against public health. > [@nelliebly](#): > > Am I the only person on the SDMB who’s been on hydroxychloroquine? I keep hoping someone else will chime in. I was on it for six years for lupus. I can state unequivocally that it does NOT prevent or cure viral infections. I had the flu while I was on it as well as a couple of colds. But presumably you didn’t get COVID-19. QED. [I’m kidding, for the sarcasm-impaired.] ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/46 "2020-04-06T20:00:46Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > You know what really doesn’t play well? Refrigerated trucks full of dead bodies leaving hospitals in mid-sized and small towns across the South and Midwest. > > I think Trump Land can tune out Dr. Fauci - seems like they’re already doing just that. But they can’t tune out corpses of their neighbors. That’s when it hits home. I’m not so sure about that. Short of actually being one of those dead, I think Trump’s base will tune out even the deaths of their neighbors and family.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/47 "2020-04-06T20:05:36Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I say we all take forsythia. It’s growing all over the place right now. WHAT DO WE HAVE TO LOSE, PEOPLE!! Forsythia 😉 is my go-to argument for this kind of situation as well. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/48 "2020-04-06T20:10:15Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Based on\* lack\* of evidence. All we have so far is wishful thinking. If that worked, homeopathy would be mainstream science That might look like this: [Homeopathic Accident & Emergency](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0), courtesy of _That Mitchell and Webb Look_ (2:33 video). ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/49 "2020-04-06T20:13:02Z")
I would like to add that a good family friend is an emergency care doctor. She points out that hydroxychloroquine carries risks and should not be used without active case management, including a heart monitor. Even if you discard all of the medical evidence and decide to give it a try, it’s not a drug that should be used outside of the hospital, especially with patients that are already in critical condition. It’s magical thinking and attention should be spent elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/50 "2020-04-06T20:15:04Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Am I the only person on the SDMB who’s been on hydroxychloroquine? I keep hoping someone else will chime in. I was on it for six years for lupus. I can state unequivocally that it does NOT prevent or cure viral infections. I had the flu while I was on it as well as a couple of colds. Raises hand. I did, for Malaria when I was younger or at least per my mother. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/51 "2020-04-06T20:37:22Z")
I take 1,000 milligrams of metformin every day, so you’ll have to find something else. Next! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/52 "2020-04-06T20:37:56Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/53 "2020-04-06T20:39:11Z")
Gov. Cuomo stated today that use of hydroxychloroquine in New York hospitals is having “anecdotally” positive results. > **[Cuomo: Use of antimalarial drug in New York hospitals ‘anecdotally’ positive](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/491358-cuomo-use-of-antimalarial-drug-in-new-york-hospitals-anecdotally/)** > > New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday that early responses to the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine “anecdotally” suggest its use in the coronavirus fight has been “effective,” but that off… ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/54 "2020-04-06T20:43:56Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > and there are decades of evidence on safety with people taking it for malaria prophylaxis, though that is no longer recommended due to malaria-resistance. There are decades of evidence of the sort of the bad side effects that can happen. [Here](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2017/009768s037s045s047lbl.pdf), for example, is the current FDA label for Plaquenil, a brand name for hydroxychloroquine. Relevant sections include: > [@](#): > > Postmarketing cases of life-threatening and fatal cardiomyopathy have been reported with use of PLAQUENIL as well as with use of chloroquine. > [@](#): > > PLAQUENIL has been shown to cause severe hypoglycemia including loss of consciousness that could be life threatening in patients treated with or without antidiabetic medications. > [@](#): > > Antimalarial compounds should be used with caution in patients with hepatic disease or alcoholism or in conjunction with known hepatotoxic drugs. A reduction in dosage may be necessary in patients with hepatic or renal disease, as well as in those taking medicines known to affect these organs. > [@](#): > > Clinical studies of PLAQUENIL did not include sufficient numbers of subjects aged 65 and over to determine whether they respond differently from younger subjects. However, this drug is known to be substantially excreted by the kidney, and the risk of toxic reactions to this drug may be greater in patients with impaired renal function. Because elderly patients are more likely to have decreased renal function, care should be taken in dose selection and it may be useful to monitor renal function. > [@](#): > > The 4-aminoquinoline compounds are very rapidly and completely absorbed after ingestion, and in accidental overdosage, or rarely with lower doses in hypersensitive patients, toxic symptoms may occur within 30 minutes. The symptoms of overdosage may include headache, drowsiness, visual disturbances, cardiovascular collapse, convulsions, hypokalemia, rhythm and conduction disorders including QT prolongation, torsades de pointes, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, followed by sudden potentially fatal respiratory and cardiac arrest. This is a drug that can work well in a lot of people, but it’s not really a “safe” medication, in that when it goes wrong, it can go really wrong really quickly, and it can kill. Giving it to a lot of mostly elderly and already-ill patients, at a time when the health care system is already overwhelmed, may not be all that smart. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/55 "2020-04-06T20:55:31Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I say we all take forsythia. It’s growing all over the place right now. WHAT DO WE HAVE TO LOSE, PEOPLE!! Forsythia? I know that foxglove can be used to stop all symptoms of any kind for any condition in fairly short order. Someone should tell Trump! ---
**Author:** ![Elko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elko/32/3196_2.png) [@Elko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elko)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/56 "2020-04-06T21:01:59Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Am I the only person on the SDMB who’s been on hydroxychloroquine? I keep hoping someone else will chime in. I was on it for six years for lupus. I can state unequivocally that it does NOT prevent or cure viral infections. I had the flu while I was on it as well as a couple of colds. Your are not, **nelliebly**. I’ve been taking it for around 15 years to keep my lupus in remission, and it’s currently the only drug I take for lupus. Similar to you, I typically get about one cold a year, and every so often, a flu that must not be covered by a given year’s vaccine. I just happened to refill my prescription a couple of days before it really hit the news, and am not looking forward to what my pharmacist might tell me when I have to refill again. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/57 "2020-04-06T21:03:16Z")
With all the shit Trump is throwing against the wall, something is bound to stick. Maybe this is it. It doesn’t mean he isn’t full of shit. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/58 "2020-04-06T21:12:50Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > I’m also unwilling to accept that I don’t need to have an opinion. I’m not saying I’m going to second-guess experts, but that a) I have natural curiosity and want to understand That’s good. But you are asking for a unicorn. If someone writes up a user-friendly version of the information, that doesn’t mean that you’ll understand it in a way that is reasonable, because you don’t have the correct training or understanding of the topic. And any user-friendly version will, almost certainly, become just as misconstrued as the official version. Think of it like a court trial. Whoever goes last has the advantage. When the jury decides, their version will be fresher in their memory, and the other side will never have a chance to rebut any points that they make Our courts want to favor the defendant, and so they get to go after the prosecution. In a news article, they will generally want to provide a pros and cons list. That’s the user-friendly version of presenting something. Should pros go first or cons? What if there are more cons but they are all fairly meaningless and very few pros, but all very important? How do you balance that so that even a person who can’t tell between them can make an informed and reasonable judgement from the two? Maybe you write a lot. And now, having written a lot, going into the whole history of organic chemistry, biology, and p-values, you have an article that is 99% university college instruction and 1% relevant to the topic at hand. Who actually reads that article all the way through? If someone has actually read that article, and understood it, do they still need the user-friendly version? A user friendly presentation simply can’t suffice if you’re too far out in the weeds. If you want to understand something which is hard to understand, unless you’re an expert, then all there is for it is to read up enough on the subject that you can parse a science journal and get something from it. > [@](#): > > b) it’s part of being an informed citizen No, as a citizen, your job is to elect people who you trust are able and willing to talk to experts and anyone who would be affected by an issue, and who would change their mind and their approach on the basis of what they heard in an evenhanded and balanced way. Your job is not to become a backseat driver of the people you elect to government. If you want good government, spend your time making sure that the people you elect are dispassionate, care about people, hardworking, and are willing to sit there and power through spreadsheets or science journals, if necessary, to try and do their job. > [@](#): > > c) health experts’ expertise doesn’t extend to other realms. They can tell us the facts, the risks, and the likely outcomes, but they are not the people who get to decide if those risks are worth taking, or how to trade off economic pain against public health. No, that’s politicians, not you. And your politicians should say what I say, which is that they will want to see the math results that the CDC and FDA give them. But then to _also_ compare that to what the drug manufacturers are saying about availability of the product, what hospitals are saying about their ability to store different medications, what stage of testing other countries might already be in and whether it makes more sense to give way on a few therapies, etc. As the people who have been elected to govern - as opposed to you, the backseat driver - they have access to information like this that you do not. You will likely never have it and certainly you won’t have the free time to properly go through it like the politicians do since you have some other job to do in life and you won’t have access to the scientists, doctors, manufacturers, and diplomats to help you wade through it all. You do not live in a democracy. You are not expected nor desired to be a part of your government except in the realm of finding honest, incorruptible, intelligent, and upstanding individuals to lay trust into. If you bring any opinion on actions and policy into the mix, you are simply trying to drive the car, by proxy, without being able to see the road, the mirrors, the dashboard, nor feel the vehicle under your feet. It is silly and counterproductive. The country is and was expected to be a republic. The framers of the constitution viewed “democracy” as a bad word and reviled it greatly, based on how it had destroyed many nations in the past. You should do the same. If you do not trust our leaders, that’s because you know who you chose to vote for. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/59 "2020-04-06T21:14:18Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > There are decades of evidence of the sort of the bad side effects that can happen. > > [Here](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2017/009768s037s045s047lbl.pdf), for example, is the current FDA label for Plaquenil, a brand name for hydroxychloroquine. Relevant sections include: > > […] > This is a drug that can work well in a lot of people, but it’s not really a “safe” medication, in that when it goes wrong, it can go really wrong really quickly, and it can kill. Giving it to a lot of mostly elderly and already-ill patients, at a time when the health care system is already overwhelmed, may not be all that smart. Thanks, good information. Still, side effects in some populations don’t mean that we shouldn’t be able to follow up with monitored tests in safer populations for COVID-19 uses. This has the potential to do a lot of good. Or be completely useless. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190/60 "2020-04-06T21:18:41Z")
I have a question for any medical professionals that might be following this thread. If this unproven therapy is broadly distributed, will there be any public health consequences due to the widespread use of Zithromax? Will it cause bacterial resistance? Will we lose it as an antibiotic? One reason I’m asking is that there are people that are advocating its use as a preventative, which would mean a lot of people would be taking it at the same time. Is this wise? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfortunately-i-think-the-media-is-setting-up-trump-for-a-big-win-on-hydroxychloroquine/851190.md?page=4)