Nearly 17,000 people may have died after taking hydroxycholoroquine during the first wave of Covid-19, according to a study by French researchers.
The anti-malaria drug was prescribed to some patients hospitalized with Covid-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, “despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits,” the researchers point out in their paper, published in the February issue of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.
Now, researchers have estimated that some 16,990 people in six countries — France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the U.S. — may have died as a result.
That figure stems from a study published in the Nature scientific journal in 2021 which reported an 11 percent increase in the mortality rate, linked to its prescription against Covid-19, because of the potential adverse effects like heart rhythm disorders, and its use instead of other effective treatments.
Researchers from universities in Lyon, France, and Québec, Canada, used that figure to analyze hospitalization data for Covid in each of the six countries, exposure to hydroxychloroquine and the increase in the relative risk of death linked to the drug.
In fact, they say the figure may be far higher given the study only concerns six countries from March to July 2020, when the drug was prescribed much more widely.
Hydroxychloroquine gained prominence partly due to French virologist Didier Raoult who had headed the Méditerranée Infection Foundation hospital, but was later removed amid growing controversy.
It was also considered something of a “miracle cure” by the then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who said: “What do you have to lose? Take it.”
And why? I still don’t fully understand what made Trump and the GOP decide to deny vaccines publicly (while often taking vaccines privately) and to turn every medical decision into a toxic political decision based on misinformation. Why was this in their interest? Once they started down this path, they just kept doubling down, leading to the ridiculously unqualified and dangerous Florida State Surgeon General currently in power.
It’s exactly why Rand Paul invested in hydroxychloroquine early on in the early months of COVID, and then regularly attacked Dr Fauci…as the good doctor was bad for Brillohead’s bottom line.
I think it’s a combination of things. It brews mistrust of experts, education, science, and medicine, which keeps people afraid. It’s a cult in that way, you must trust the leader and exclude information that might potentially prove them wrong. By putting in a mistrust of one area of expert, it can be extended to others as well, cementing that only the in group can be trusted.
By denying that people are dying, they make people distrust reports of people dying. When people do get sick, they wait or take ineffective ‘treatments’, which then overtax the hospital facilities if/when the person actually goes in for real treatment – and then the cult leaders can say that the hospital system is failing and can’t save you, only dear leader can.
But ultimately, I think they simply don’t care. As you say, they privately take the vaccines and have top flight health care. Everyone else is less than a pawn on the board to them.
At this point on the right the tail wags the dog. These memes are coming from somewhere and being picked up by people looking around down the Q and other right wing rabbit holes. The Republican leadership has little in the way of actual leadership. First it was Limbaugh and company but now it’s faceless, nameless internet bot farms setting their agenda. They can’t hold on to power without pandering to this shit and they are more afraid of losing power than killing their own supporters.
There’s little leadership in our politics. Few Democrats supported gay marriage until public polling showed a majority in favor. If that had been the case earlier in our history how long would it have taken for civil rights laws to be enacted or interracial marriage to be legal. We didn’t get to 50% in favor of interracial marriage until the late 80s! I realize you can’t be too far off public opinion and get elected, but leaders should be leading public opinion, not following it. Consensus can be created if people with good writing and oratorical skills get out there and make the case. Of course that means risking your access to power if you don’t succeed and that right there is the big problem we face in our politics.
Remember, it’s all part of Putin’s plan to undermine democracy. Part of that is to undermine the trust in any institutional authority. As soon as Covid hit, they realized it was easy to spread lies and made up stories, and they did. Eventually, it pitted some people against other people, which is exactly the goal. And when a mass of people are distrustful of government all the grifters realize they can get viewers by fanning the flames. So it spreads around and feds on itself. And it worked! If some people die, who cares?
Echoing Randy Ellicott & Houndentenor. Republicans intentionally sow so much distrust against doctors and research that they can promote quacks into their ranks without consequence.
it was in their interest because these people gain power by making other people afraid of anything and everyone. It was in their interest because these people gain power by making other people not trust respectable and respected authorities. It was in their interest because fear, doubt, confusion, And the politics of resentment are always in the interests of authoritarians, conmen, and grifter.
Evangelicals (the MAGAt base) quite literally worship a genocidal deity. Extend that fantasy into their nearly hermetically sealed reality and voila, we have a cult with a full on death wish.
Politics because the CDC and the “Democratic appointed” Fauci had to be opposed by GOP and for no other reason. Well, yes, because Trump had no idea how to act as President.
See, the problem was that they didn’t follow all of TFG’s advice and drink bleach and stick UV light in their butts after taking the hydroxychloroquine. /s
Republicans’ successful sowing of distrust towards science and doctors during the pandemic is the biggest consequence. When President Obama successfully led the creation of the H1N1 vaccine, no one blinked. But Trump and his like-minded lackeys lied and lied and lied about the vaccine that many Republican voters trust a rando podcaster or anti-vax preacher on the street more than peer-reviewed research.
And while these anti-vaxxers scam their viewership and rake in the $$, they take the vax behind the scenes.
Touting quack remedies instead of effective treatment for a disease that can kill you, or leave you seriously disabled for long stretches, is not the finest re-election tactic–especially when your opponent is urging his voters to get highly effective vaccines.
Touting quack remedies instead of effective treatment for a disease that can kill you, or leave you seriously disabled for long stretches, is not the finest re-election tactic–especially when your opponent is urging his voters to get highly effective vaccines.
I am an older gay guy in a long-term wonderful relationship. My spouse and I are in our 36th year together. I love politics and news. I enjoy civil discussions and have no taboo subjects. My pronouns are he / him / his and my email is Scottiestoybox@gmail.com
View all posts by Scotties Playtime
Scottie's Playtime 