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It has been a hard week for me watching what I consider to be one of the biggest health scandals of our time occur in relation to two affordable, widely available drugs that may offer potential benefit to patients with #COVID-19 ( #hydroxychloroquine + ivermectin)
2/ Let me explain. First, I have been nauseous to see certain scientists in positions of great authority categorically dismiss the use of #hydroxychloroquine in any stage of #COVID-19 based, not off the literature, but off personal grudges either against Trump or MDs like Raoult
3/ These are scientists that have 100,000+ followers + speak to the media that shapes the globe’s #COVID-19 decisions…that, as far as I can tell, have not tried to understand the mechanisms of action by which hydroxychloroquine might benefit COVID-19. See https://twitter.com/microbeminded2/status/1255907418908876803?s=20
4/ Then, added to that, we have the disastrous paper in the #Lancet on hydroxychloroquine that was leveraged by both Fauci + the #WHO to stop hydroxychloroquine trials around the globe…that likely contains fabricated data: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/health/coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine.html
5/ Then, the same researcher who published that hydroxychloroquine paper also did a study of #Ivermectin for COVID-19 that used the same apparently faulty database, leading to utter confusion abt the accurate use of Ivermectin for COVID-19 (described here): https://www.isglobal.org/healthisglobal/-/custom-blog-portlet/ivermectin-and-covid-19-how-a-flawed-database-shaped-the-covid-19-response-of-several-latin-american-countries/2877257/0
6/ Why does this bother me? I grew up in Mexico City. My father was a Spanish descendant Mexican citizen who owned a tool manufacturing company. When I was young the NAFTA trade agreement + devaluation of the peso put his company out of business my family lost all our money
7/ My father had cardiovascular disease, and the only care he cld get was through the Mexico Social Security health system. The MDs were compassionate, but my father cld never afford the medications or surgeries for his condition and died early from a heart attack
8/ Before that, I accompanied him to appointments at the Mexico social security hospitals, and, as we sat in the waiting rooms, I learned what it's like for most of the world’s citizens to know that, even if $ drugs exist for a condition (like COVID-19) they may never get them
9/ In the waiting room, I watched a man die in front of me (he fell over backwards and hit is head on the floor) while waiting in a line to see an MD. Few people in the waiting room seemed surprised. They knew already that the system cld not fully keep up w/ the needs of patients
10/ These same patients, plus millions around the globe in similar situations, are some of the most likely to get COVID-19 (or have COVID-10 now!). They must often still work to survive, and may have no luxury to even get a mask or social distance under even the worst conditions
11/ Knowing this, scientists in the USA/EU should have been EXTRA cautious + proactive + open-minded w/ the study of #hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin in COVID-19: two drugs already on the pharmacy shelves of many low-income countries struggling badly with #COVID-19
12/ Instead we have failed the MDs and scientists in these countries - by aligning hydroxycloroquine use w/ allegiance to Trump in ways these MDs cannot understand, and worse, by forcing them to wonder if the data they are using to make treatment decisions is even real
13/ I ask today: how are we going to fix this situation? Please, if you a scientist who understands where I am coming from, attempt to clarify the problems we have faced so far w/ #hydroxychloroquine and let’s commit to a more proactive, open-minded approach moving forward
14/ B/c overall, some studies + anecdotal reports suggest that Ivermectin + hydroxycholorquine (especially when used w/ #zinc in early stage COVID-19) may be helping patients (eg: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/05/12/nyu-study-looks-at-hydroxychloroquine-zinc-azithromycin-combo-on-decreasing-covid-19-deaths). We MUST continue to study the meds in an accurate + transparent fashion
