Trump-endorsed Covid drug linked to nearly 17,000 fatalities, study reveals
In 2020, there were limited studies on Hydroxychloroquine suggesting it could have beneficial effects, but specific studies regarding its treatment for the coronavirus were absent. On March 28, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for the drug and initiated clinical trials.
10:03 AM EST, January 6, 2024
Not all promising studies yield expected results
More extensive subsequent studies, one of which was conducted by the New England Journal of Medicine, found that Hydroxychloroquine provided no benefits in tackling the coronavirus and notably amplified the mortality risk. Subsequently, on June 15, 2020, the FDA withdrew the emergency use authorization for the drug.
A recent study carried out by French scientists posits that nearly 17,000 people may have lost their lives after being prescribed Hydroxychloroquine in hospitals during the initial wave of COVID-19.
In the study published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy in February, it is estimated that the prescription of Hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized COVID-19 patients from March to July 2020 in six countries contributed to approximately 16,990 deaths. The countries included in the study were France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United States. It is feared that this number could be significantly higher if data from other countries were factored in.
The majority of these deaths, a total of 12,739, took place in the US. In Spain, 1,895 people died; in Italy, 1822; in Belgium, 240; in France, 199; and in Turkey, 95. These deaths were partly attributed to the drug's cardiac side effects. It is well-known that Hydroxychloroquine can cause side effects such as heart arrhythmia and muscle weakness.
Trump first spoke about Hydroxychloroquine on Fox News in April 2020. Without substantiating with evidence, he asserted that regions afflicted by malaria had not seen a coronavirus breakout mainly due to the administration of Hydroxychloroquine.
I've seen nothing bad. One thing that we're seeing is that people won't die because of this. So if someone is in trouble, they should take it. I would do it- Trump asserted.
