The now-infamous anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, touted by President Donald Trump as a cure/treatment for coronavirus, has now been linked to increased deaths in COVID-19 patients. A new study is proving that it increases the risk of heart failure and death while subsequently doing nothing to treat the virus.
The Lancet medical journal published a study on Friday (May 22) that looks at 96,000 COVID patients from six countries, hospitalized between December 20, 2019 and April 14, 2020. Nearly 15,000 of them who’d been treated by the antimalarials, plus one of two antibiotics that is sometimes paired with them, showed a higher risk of death than the 81,000 patients who went without the treatment.
The study and its results arrive just days after Trump claimed he’s been taking hydroxychloroquine for weeks. He touted that his doctor approved the drug for him to take, claiming it has great benefits. Trump says, “He said out of hundreds of people that he’s treated he hasn’t lost one. All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK. If it doesn’t work you’re not going to get sick or die. It’s been heavily tested.”
Furthermore, the study also took into account age, smoking, various health conditions and other factors that would affect survival. Ultimately, they proved that the drugs contributed to 34 to 45 percent of increased risk of death.
