Mel Gibson on health: what the evidence says · JRE #2254
“He got bit by mosquitoes. He had, you know, malaria, which is interesting to note that he used to take hydroxychloroquine and they get a malaria attack. Crazy? And then when I tried when my doctor recommended I get it when I had COVID, they gouge me 800 it used to cost him $30.”
What the evidence says
Hydroxychloroquine is a well-established drug for treating and preventing malaria and for treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, so the claim about its historical use against malaria is accurate. However, for COVID-19, large randomized controlled trials found no benefit: a randomized trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine found hydroxychloroquine did not prevent COVID-19 illness or infection when used as post-exposure prophylaxis, and the U.S. FDA revoked its emergency use authorization for COVID-19 in June 2020, warning that the drug carried a risk of serious heart rhythm problems without demonstrated benefit outside a hospital or clinical trial setting. The framing that price increases or reduced availability reflect suppression of a proven COVID-19 cure is not supported by the clinical evidence; the scientific consensus is that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective COVID-19 treatment, which is why regulators withdrew authorization rather than expanding access. Separately, price or supply changes during 2020 reflected surging demand and shortages tied to its established uses (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, malaria), not evidence of a suppressed cure.