What I actually had in mind with my comment was the hydroxychloroquine trials. The interpretation of those results has been just saddening to the scientist in m

What I actually had in mind with my comment was the hydroxychloroquine trials. The interpretation of those results has been just saddening to the scientist in me. They've all been weak studies, for various reasons (many of them quite valid!), and so the results just don't have much power. And yet, the partisans jump on everything they like to push their agenda: Miracle cure! Worse than drinking bleach! Et cetera. My reading of the data to date (note: not including anything that might have shown up in the last few days) is more nuanced. Hydroxychloroquine most likely has a small positive effect, but the data are consistent with anything from a modest negative effect to a modest positive effect to absolutely nothing at all. From its long history of previous use, the drug has known negative effects, but these are unimportant or manageable for most COVID-19 patients. However, any positive effect it may have is limited; the studies to date, albeit limited, have been powerful enough to detect a "miracle cure". None of this says a word about mechanism of action. Someone is bound to say, "But what about zinc? You need to consider zinc!" The thing is, we did. These analyses are independent of mechanism of action. It's entirely possible that hydroxychloroquine's small positive effect is mostly or entirely caused by zinc interactions. Or not. We don't know! We'd have to do a study designed around zinc to test that theory out. In my opinion, again as a science-y but not doctor-y person, is that giving hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients in most cases will not hurt them, and might help a little bit. The biggest danger, I believe, is that people think it's more powerful than it is. We should not stop and think that hydroxychloroquine is good enough or a "cure". Because it isn't. And if a patient receives hydroxychloroquine instead of better care because people misunderstand science, that is a failing. (The above is definitely a tangent. But getting it off my chest somewhere was good for my mental health!)