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True thing. Also people who I like like Elon Musk spoke about it https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1239650597906898947?s=20 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/sta

True thing. Also people who I like like Elon Musk spoke about it https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1239650597906898947?s=20 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1239650597906898947?s=20 On one side his voice should be heard, it may give people hope and help to move stuff On the other side, some people who don't know what balance is, might use it in the wrong way.

tathougies 7y ago
How are these people getting their hands on prescription drugs? Someone touting X prescription drug as a potential cure for something doesn't mean we should all go out and take it. I mean, PrEP is a treatment to prevent the AIDS virus from spreading, but it's not like someone being happy about that means you should somehow illegally procure and take a prescription drug. The double standards here are shocking.
- samizdis 7y ago
  I am fairly sure that chloroquine is available without prescription in many African countries, so one-time visitors may have kept a stash of anti-malarials bought during a trip. It is (or used to be) available over the counter in the UK, too.
- jdminhbg 7y ago
  > How are these people getting their hands on prescription drugs? The people in this story didn't get their hands on prescription drugs, they found an aquarium chemical with a similar name.
  - mirimir 7y ago
    Are you arguing that the chloroquine they took, as chloroquine phosphate, is different from the chloroquine that's used to treat malaria? That's more than "a similar name". It's the same name. From what I've read, both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are used to treat inflammation. So is it chloroquine vs hydroxychloroquine that you're referring to?
    - tathougies 7y ago
      I would also suppose that aquarium grade chloroquine doesn't go through the same dosage assurance process. This is why it's dangerous to dose yourself using chemicals that are pharmacologic. Unless you're taking medication designed and verified to be used by humans at the given dose, you don't actually know if the concentration written on the box is actually what you're taking. These aquarium chemicals are likely unregulated or regulated much more loosely, so that the margin of error may easily kill a person, but not a fish.- They may also contain non-active ingredients that are not harmful to fish but kill humans. Who knows? In other words, don't take aquarium chemicals and think they're medication.
      - mirimir 7y ago
        Truth.
    - jdminhbg 7y ago
      I'm not qualified to comment on what differences exist between chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, I'm pointing out that aquarium cleaner tablets are not medicine. Even if the names are the same, you have no idea what a tablet like that is cut with.
      - mirimir 7y ago
        That's an excellent point. However, it seems that people treating their fish with it are also looking for >95% pure chloroquine.[0] But still, fish aren't people. So using anything except pharmaceutical grade is dangerous. 0) https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.192309/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.1923...
HarryHirsch 7y ago
A responsible man would have advocated for clinical trials, the only way to know if any drug actually does what it's supposed to do. There are dozens of drugs, experimental and repurposed, that show activity against SARS - remember there was that epidemic in 2002, and since then people looked at the virus, knowing it was going to be back. But Elon Musk is not a responsible man. He is Mr Foot-in-Mouth on Twitter many times over.
saila 7y ago
I can't understand why he's tweeting this as if the CDC and doctors and so on aren't already considering those drugs as a treatment option. Many of the responses to the tweet have a tin-foil-hat kinda feel to them. Who exactly do they think is suppressing usage of these drugs? And why?
- pbreit 7y ago
  There was a lot of resistance until Elon & Trump mentioned it. The negative reaction to the French study has been pretty intense.
marzell 7y ago
Bestow whatever personal praise you want on Elon Musk based on power, charisma, whatever... As one of the most famous people in the world, with his own agendas, and no medical qualifications... it is extremely irresponsible for Musk to make any sort of public comments about anything medical in nature. No matter what he says, a significant number of people will take it to heart and ignore medical advice, science, and their own common sense.

tathougies 7y ago

How are these people getting their hands on prescription drugs? Someone touting X prescription drug as a potential cure for something doesn't mean we should all go out and take it. I mean, PrEP is a treatment to prevent the AIDS virus from spreading, but it's not like someone being happy about that means you should somehow illegally procure and take a prescription drug. The double standards here are shocking.

samizdis 7y ago
I am fairly sure that chloroquine is available without prescription in many African countries, so one-time visitors may have kept a stash of anti-malarials bought during a trip. It is (or used to be) available over the counter in the UK, too.
jdminhbg 7y ago
> How are these people getting their hands on prescription drugs? The people in this story didn't get their hands on prescription drugs, they found an aquarium chemical with a similar name.
- mirimir 7y ago
  Are you arguing that the chloroquine they took, as chloroquine phosphate, is different from the chloroquine that's used to treat malaria? That's more than "a similar name". It's the same name. From what I've read, both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are used to treat inflammation. So is it chloroquine vs hydroxychloroquine that you're referring to?
  - tathougies 7y ago
    I would also suppose that aquarium grade chloroquine doesn't go through the same dosage assurance process. This is why it's dangerous to dose yourself using chemicals that are pharmacologic. Unless you're taking medication designed and verified to be used by humans at the given dose, you don't actually know if the concentration written on the box is actually what you're taking. These aquarium chemicals are likely unregulated or regulated much more loosely, so that the margin of error may easily kill a person, but not a fish.- They may also contain non-active ingredients that are not harmful to fish but kill humans. Who knows? In other words, don't take aquarium chemicals and think they're medication.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      Truth.
  - jdminhbg 7y ago
    I'm not qualified to comment on what differences exist between chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, I'm pointing out that aquarium cleaner tablets are not medicine. Even if the names are the same, you have no idea what a tablet like that is cut with.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      That's an excellent point. However, it seems that people treating their fish with it are also looking for >95% pure chloroquine.[0] But still, fish aren't people. So using anything except pharmaceutical grade is dangerous. 0) https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.192309/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/chloroquine-phosphate.1923...

HarryHirsch 7y ago

A responsible man would have advocated for clinical trials, the only way to know if any drug actually does what it's supposed to do. There are dozens of drugs, experimental and repurposed, that show activity against SARS - remember there was that epidemic in 2002, and since then people looked at the virus, knowing it was going to be back. But Elon Musk is not a responsible man. He is Mr Foot-in-Mouth on Twitter many times over.

saila 7y ago

I can't understand why he's tweeting this as if the CDC and doctors and so on aren't already considering those drugs as a treatment option. Many of the responses to the tweet have a tin-foil-hat kinda feel to them. Who exactly do they think is suppressing usage of these drugs? And why?

pbreit 7y ago
There was a lot of resistance until Elon & Trump mentioned it. The negative reaction to the French study has been pretty intense.

marzell 7y ago

Bestow whatever personal praise you want on Elon Musk based on power, charisma, whatever... As one of the most famous people in the world, with his own agendas, and no medical qualifications... it is extremely irresponsible for Musk to make any sort of public comments about anything medical in nature. No matter what he says, a significant number of people will take it to heart and ignore medical advice, science, and their own common sense.