Or would you insist upon thorough trials and peer review by the CDC first?
but I wouldn’t begrudge anyone willing to try it. It would probably be safe for otherwise healthy people. If you are implying that new drug uses should not be tested for safety and efficacy for the target patient and use, why?
Here is one doctor’s opinion- I’m sure other doctors have different opinions-
“Yes, some are advocating using Zithromax to prevent secondary bacterial infection. Some are touting the chloroquine + Zithromax combo to "treat" the virus and prevent secondary bacterial infections. This practice actually scares the bejesus out of me as I stated in the other thread.“
“Chloroquine and Zithromax are both potent QT prolongation meds. COVID 19, as we are finding out, is causing acute myocarditis in a good percentage of people. It scares me that if we are widely "treating" them with chloroquine + Zithromax, we are going to have people dropping dead from torsades V-tach's.“
5) Unintended consequences - chloroquine is actually a pretty toxic medication. And it's acute side effects also happen to hit the same organs that are affected by COVID 19, adding to the possibilities of very severe unintended consequences.
Chloroquine (and Zithromax, the other half of the current favor combo by politicians) prolongs QT interval in heart muscles. This puts those with pre-existing heart diseases (those hardest hit by COVID) at a much higher risk of sudden fatal heart arrhythmia. We are also learning that COVID 19 can cause acute cardiac inflammation (myocarditis), putting the patient at even higher risk for fatal arrhythmia. So chloroquine in this population is essentially playing the Russian Roulette.
Chloroquine is hepatotoxic. We are finding that severely ill COVID 19 patients tend to have acute liver injury from the virus. Adding a liver-toxic drug in these patients require very, very careful considerations.
Chloroquine is also known to suppress bone marrows - causing your blood cell lines to drop. COVID 19 also causes bone marrow suppression - low white blood cell count is a common finding in COVID 19 patients who are sick enough to be hospitalized. Chloroquine does not kill COVID 19 virus. Your body still needs your own immune system to fight off and neutralize COVD 19. It would be a bad time to have your bone marrow suppressed, wouldn't you say?
Chloroquine is dangerous in patients with renal failure. Guess what COVID 19 likes to do? Besides lung and heart, it also likes to attack the kidneys. Many COVID 19 patients that need hospitalization have acute kidney failures
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we shouldn't use chloroquine. As convoluted as the theory of how it works in COVID is, it is worth investigation. I'm saying it needs to be studied more carefully so we understand the risk and benefit in more details. It is not a benign medication as you think and it is not the magic bullet some people want it to be.
Chloroquine + Zithromax has very real adverse consequences to the heart. It's a combination most doctors would cringe before this COVID crisis. It still makes me cringe.
Like everything else that could potentially stop this virus...we don't have enough.
Link: https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0328-coronavirus-autoimmune-disease-drug-20200330-bdf6a6trmjgk7dtxrbbmvn3r2m-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1UGcGt8yzHbjE-gwfYONNWvEpRocYkTR0TOwyRlBYf110Xm2SO8NZjif8
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Seriously, hope it does some good.