Finally, States Are Retracting Hydroxychloroquine Bans:

TownHall says, “In an abrupt about-face, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and governor of Minnesota have recently retracted their decisions to ban the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients. As the saying goes, it’s better late than never. . . . .

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On March 21, President Trump tweeted:

“HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH … be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!”

Finally, nearly five months after Trump’s tweet, some state leaders are allowing residents in their states to take a drug that could literally save their lives.” . . .

Hydroxychloroquine is effective, ‘helped save lives,’ new peer-reviewed study finds

According to The Washington Times, “Hydroxychloroquine was widely denounced as dangerous and ineffective after being touted by President Trump as a treatment for the novel coronavirus, but newly released research found the drug actually works.

A peer-reviewed study published Thursday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases found that 13% of hospitalized patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone died of COVID-19, compared to 26.4% who died who were not treated with the drug.

“Our analysis shows that using hydroxychloroquine helped save lives,” said Dr. Steven Kalkanis, a neurosurgeon, CEO of the Henry Ford Medical Group, and senior vice president of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, where the study was conducted. . . .

The results of the large-scale study, which included 2,541 patients hospitalized from March 10 to May 2 across the system’s six hospitals, differ from those of previous U.S. studies, including a Columbia University Medical Center analysis that concluded in a May 11 report that the drug was ineffective. . . .

After initially approving hydroxychloroquine, or HCQ, for treating COVID-19, the Food and Drug Administration withdrew its emergency-use authorization on June 15, concluding the drug was “unlikely to be effective” and citing the risk of side effects such as “serious cardiac events.”

The drug, which was still permitted for clinical trials, has long been approved for treating lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and malaria, but carries a risk for those with a heart condition known as prolonged QT interval. . . .

In a peer-reviewed study of 2,541 patients hospitalized at Michigan’s six Henry Ford hospitals during the coronavirus peak, scientists found that hydroxychloroquine “cut the death rate significantly” without “heart-related side-effects.”

Study finds hydroxychloroquine helped coronavirus patients survive better

According to CNN, “A team at Henry Ford Health System in Southeast Michigan said Thursday its study of 2,541 hospitalized patients found that those given hydroxychloroquine were much less likely to die.

Dr. Marcus Zervos, division head of infectious disease for Henry Ford Health System, said 26% of those not given hydroxychloroquine died, compared to 13% of those who got the drug. The team looked back at everyone treated in the hospital system since the first patient in March.

“Overall crude mortality rates were 18.1% in the entire cohort, 13.5% in the hydroxychloroquine alone group, 20.1% among those receiving hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin, 22.4% among the azithromycin alone group, and 26.4% for neither drug,” the team wrote in a report published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.. . . ”

Study finds hydroxychloroquine may have boosted survival, but other researchers have doubts

According to CNN, ” A surprising new study found the controversial antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine helped patients better survive in the hospital. But the findings, like the federal government’s use of the drug itself, were disputed.