BREAKING: major safety issues seen in a study in #Brazil of #chloroquine treatment for #coronavirus. 25% of patients taking the higher dose of chloroquine recommended by #China had irregular EKGs that increase risk of a fatal heart arrhythmia. 17% DIED. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/health/chloroquine-coronavirus-trump.html

One of the authors of the study, Dr. Marcus Lacerda, said that his study found that “the high dosage (of #chloroquine) that the Chinese were using is very TOXIC and KILLS more patients.”

Yet @realDonaldTrump–who is NOT a doctor–keeps pushing its use. https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1249739693148774400?s=20

~50% of patients were given 450 mg of #chloroquine 2x/day for 5 days, while the rest were given 600 mg for 10 days. Within 3 days, heart arrhythmias were noted in patients at the higher dose. By the 6th day, 11 patients had DIED, immediately ending the high-dose treatment arm.

Respiratory secretion at day 4 was negative for #coronavirus in only 1 of 14 evaluable patients, so there was no evidence that #chloroquine reduced viral load.

More studies needed, but there is NO current evidence that #chloroquine works, but it can increase the risk of DEATH.

Patients were also given #azithromycin, which can cause the same EKG abnormality that increases risk for a FATAL heart arrhythmia. US hospitals are also using azithromycin to treat #coronavirus, often in combo with #hydroxychloroquine.

Pre-publication.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.07.20056424v1.full.pdf