Tim Kennedy on health: what the evidence says · JRE #1535
SUBJECT: HEALTH
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
My own doctor, my own doctor said hydroxychloroquine is fantastic if you catch it early. He goes, it really stops the propagation of the disease if you catch it early.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The claim is that hydroxychloroquine is highly effective against COVID-19 and stops disease progression if taken early. Large randomized controlled trials found no such benefit. The UK RECOVERY trial, one of the largest COVID-19 treatment trials (over 4,700 hospitalized patients), found hydroxychloroquine did not reduce 28-day mortality and was associated with a lower rate of hospital discharge and a higher rate of progression to mechanical ventilation or death compared with usual care. The World Health Organization halted its Solidarity trial's hydroxychloroquine arm in July 2020 after interim results showed no reduction in mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. For early, community-based treatment specifically, the UK PRINCIPLE trial randomized higher-risk patients with suspected (mostly unconfirmed) COVID-19 to hydroxychloroquine or usual care within days of symptom onset; the hydroxychloroquine arm was stopped early by UK regulators in May 2020, and the trial found no evidence that hydroxychloroquine reduced hospital admission or death, with more nausea reported in the treatment group. No large randomized trial has shown hydroxychloroquine stops or meaningfully slows COVID-19 disease progression when started early. The claim reflects an early-pandemic view based on small uncontrolled studies that was not confirmed by subsequent rigorous trials.