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> Antimalarial drugs touted by the White House as possible COVID-19 treatments looked to be not just ineffective, but downright deadly. Immediately when the lo

> Antimalarial drugs touted by the White House as possible COVID-19 treatments looked to be not just ineffective, but downright deadly. Immediately when the long knives came out against HCQ I was cynical. A drug on the market for 60 years (and over the counter in many countries) is “extremely dangerous”? Or, more likely because it’s out of patent there’s a lot of money interested in exploring other things as a treatment.

boomboomsubban 6y ago
>A drug on the market for 60 years (and over the counter in many countries) is “extremely dangerous Tylenol has been on the market for a 60 years, often over the counter, but off label recommendations involving a high dose could be deadly. Drugs should always be considered "extremely dangerous."
- emmelaich 6y ago
  Anything in high dose can be dangerous. So that's not helpful. Anything. For instance, water.
  - boomboomsubban 6y ago
    Yep, taking ~8 extra strength Tylenol twice a day is comparable to drinking however many gallons of water a day you would need to cause problems.
tw000001 6y ago
>more likely because it’s out of patent there’s a lot of money interested in exploring other things as a treatment HCQ was not even remotely controversial until Trump tweeted about it. Our institutions have lost their collective minds with their spiteful, childish hatred for a politician. Academia and news media have completely lost sight of objectivity.
- programmarchy 6y ago
  People started hoarding HCQ in early February when the first Chinese studies were coming out. Didier Raoult's (crazy looking French doctor) reports in mid-March sparked the first controversies. I remember worrying at that point there'd be some big-pharma-backed media operation to discredit a cheap, patent-expired drug since there are trillions of dollars at stake. Trump tweet was in late March.
PiggySpeed 6y ago
> A drug on the market for 60 years (and over the counter in many countries) is “extremely dangerous”? Yes it can, if used in a different context. You can't generalize stuff in medicine. There are hundreds of factors in play: co-morbidities, genetics, interacting drugs, timelines, dosages, dose delivery forms, routes of entry, previous surgical procedures, demographics...

boomboomsubban 6y ago

>A drug on the market for 60 years (and over the counter in many countries) is “extremely dangerous Tylenol has been on the market for a 60 years, often over the counter, but off label recommendations involving a high dose could be deadly. Drugs should always be considered "extremely dangerous."

emmelaich 6y ago
Anything in high dose can be dangerous. So that's not helpful. Anything. For instance, water.
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  Yep, taking ~8 extra strength Tylenol twice a day is comparable to drinking however many gallons of water a day you would need to cause problems.

tw000001 6y ago

>more likely because it’s out of patent there’s a lot of money interested in exploring other things as a treatment HCQ was not even remotely controversial until Trump tweeted about it. Our institutions have lost their collective minds with their spiteful, childish hatred for a politician. Academia and news media have completely lost sight of objectivity.

programmarchy 6y ago
People started hoarding HCQ in early February when the first Chinese studies were coming out. Didier Raoult's (crazy looking French doctor) reports in mid-March sparked the first controversies. I remember worrying at that point there'd be some big-pharma-backed media operation to discredit a cheap, patent-expired drug since there are trillions of dollars at stake. Trump tweet was in late March.

PiggySpeed 6y ago

> A drug on the market for 60 years (and over the counter in many countries) is “extremely dangerous”? Yes it can, if used in a different context. You can't generalize stuff in medicine. There are hundreds of factors in play: co-morbidities, genetics, interacting drugs, timelines, dosages, dose delivery forms, routes of entry, previous surgical procedures, demographics...