Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin versus COVID-19: Grift, conspiracy theories

[ismnotwasm]

6. I can't stand medical grifters

Thanks for the article, Sid.

These are the narratives being promoted in the press and on social media. Indeed, Santilli’s story is showing up on the local Fox News broadcast, with a slanted report that makes it sound that the drug combination is definitely what saved him. Were hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin responsible for these handful of “miracle recoveries”? We really have no way of knowing without a randomized clinical trial. One thing is for certain. As is the case for alternative cancer cure testimonials, nothing will convince these patients that the “miracle drug” probably wasn’t what resulted in their improvement, and their stories sound convincing to the medically untrained. Worse, I predict that, even if the clinical trials are clearly negative, these sorts of stories will drive conspiracy theories that “they” (e.g., big pharma) covered up the evidence that these drugs work. Maybe the worst possibility of all is that we will never know for sure if these drugs work because the premature hype precludes completing a decent randomized clinical trial of sufficient power to answer the question definitively because no one will agree to be randomized to placebo. That is a distinct possibility, especially now that the FDA has caved to pressure and approved the use of these drugs against COVID-19 despite the extreme paucity of clinical effectiveness.