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A study confirms that hydroxychloroquine, sometimes presented as a miracle cure for Covid-19, was not. Research estimates that at least 17,000 people have died from this drug in Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United States. Its author, Jean-Christophe Lega, believes the substance should have been better studied before being recommended.
Originally used against malaria, hydroxychloroquine was widely promoted during the Covid-19 pandemic despite there being no scientific evidence of its effectiveness and against the advice of most specialists.
The study, published on January 2, 2024 in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, focuses on the first wave of the pandemic from March to July 2020.
>> Read: The WHO is suspending studies of hydroxychloroquine, which poses risks
It shows the danger that hydroxychloroquine posed when prescribed against Covid and which could even lead to death in certain cases.
“The toxicity of the molecule is well known, in the context of Covid, but also beyond that, with serious, even fatal, cardiac arrhythmias. There is non-cardiac toxicity, particularly on the liver, kidneys and red blood cells,” specifies Jean-Christophe Lega, professor of therapeutics at the Civil Hospices of Lyon, who led the study, in the Tout un monde Friday program.
Our mistake was to make hydroxychloroquine available when we should have severely limited its use and, conversely, accelerated research efforts.
Jean-Christophe Lega, head of a study on mortality linked to the use of hydroxychloroquine against Covid.
Conservative assessment
If 17,000 deaths are related to hydroxychloroquine, that number could be revised up or down in the countries covered by the study.
“This research is intended to be modest in terms of the accuracy of the results. The uncertainty is related to the lack of figures on deaths that may be attributable to the use of this substance for all countries in the world. Note that this is widely used in densely populated countries such as China and Brazil,” explains the RTS guest.
He also points out that the study only covers the first wave between March and July 2020.
First limit
Although hydroxychloroquine is “only” the cause of 17,000 deaths in the six countries analyzed, its widespread use had to be disputed for Jean-Christophe Lega.
“It is our duty to provide feedback and take this fact into account to avoid new mistakes should a new pandemic crisis arise. Our mistake was to make a number of molecules available when we should have restricted their use very much, and conversely accelerated research efforts,” concludes the professor, who is not only talking about hydroxychloroquine.
Far from a “miracle cure”
If hydroxychloroquine had been a true miracle drug, as its proponents claimed, it would have shown signs of improvement in patients almost immediately, but that was not the case, notes Jean-Christophe Lega.
“We could have had a nice surprise, but it would have been visible at the patient’s bedside. In the case of a miracle molecule, the patient with very serious problems or on the verge of death would have gotten better the next day.” did not observe. So we already knew that the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, if proven, was modest.”
>> To find out more, read: Research shows that hydroxychloroquine has no effect on mortality
In his opinion, the very properties of the hydroxychloroquine molecule indicated that it would not be very effective: “In the case of a monoclonal antibody, the properties of the mechanism are such that significant effectiveness can be predicted,” explains Jean-Christophe Lega. “Which wasn’t the case with hydroxychloroquine.”
The leader of the study believes that, given these results, it was not worth offering it to patients as a therapeutic emergency. Rather, the urgency was to include it in a high quality study to produce very high level data and then generalize its use to the entire population.
“As long as the effect is not obvious and mortality drops to 0% in real life, it is always necessary to carry out a complete development plan including experiments,” emphasizes the RTS guest.
Hydroxychloroquine is no more effective in combination with other drugs, as recommended, for example, by Professor Didier Raoult from the University of Aix-Marseille. “Studies testing azithromycin + chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine have systematically shown that there is no benefit or even increased mortality or serious adverse events due to the cardiac toxicity of these substances,” argues Jean-Christophe Lega.
>> To go even further, listen to the Point J podcast exploring whether hydroxychloroquine really cures: Podcast – Chloroquine, does it really cure Covid?
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