NIH study: hydroxychloroquine had no benefit for hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Hydroxychloroquine has no benefit for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study has officially concluded.

The report was published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, although the NIH stopped the study in June on the recommendation of an independent data monitoring committee.

The study found that while hydroxychloroquine didn’t cause any further harm, it didn’t help patients either.

The NIH inpatient hydroxychloroquine study, dubbed ORCHID, began in April at 34 hospitals across the country. It had recruited 479 out of 510 patients before preliminary evidence led the oversight committee to recommend stopping the trial.

Most of the patients in the hydroxychloroquine group and in the placebo group were hospitalized and received oxygen or invasive mechanical ventilation to maintain their breathing, the NIH said.

The researchers assessed the clinical status of each patient 14 days after being assigned to a treatment group. The researchers also measured 12 additional outcomes, including death, that occurred 28 days after participants were assigned to a treatment group.

On day 14, those who received hydroxychloroquine and those who received a placebo had a similar condition. The number of participants in both treatment groups who died on day 14 was also similar.

On day 28, 25 of 241 patients in the hydroxychloroquine group died and 25 of 236 patients in the placebo group died.

“While we were hopeful that hydroxychloroquine would help, even this is an important finding as we work together to find effective treatments for COVID-19,” said Samuel Brown, intensive care physician at Intermountain Healthcare and researcher who has helped run the trial.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initially approved the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19, before withdrawing it after studies showed it was ineffective and could cause harm in some patients.

Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions such as arthritis and rose to prominence early in the pandemic after being touted as a cure, prophylactic, and miracle cure by President TrumpDonald John Trump A Philadelphia Republican official responsible for the vote count said the office was receiving death threats that Biden would call on governors and mayors over the mask mandate The campaign’s election fraud hotline Trump inundated with prank calls MORE, its allies and members of its administration.

Many outside observers felt that the FDA gave in to political pressure when it issued the clearance.

Rick Bright, an agency whistleblower who is now part of the president-elect Joe bidenJoe Biden A Philadelphia Republican official responsible for counting the votes said the office is receiving death threats that Biden will call governors and mayors over the mask mandate The Trump Campaign Election Fraud Hotline inundated with prank calls MOREThe coronavirus advisory team made similar accusations and said he lost his job for opposing widespread promotion of the drug.