‘Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Doctors across the country are reporting that hydroxychloroquine, a commonly prescribed anti-malarial drug, is effective in treating patients during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump has touted the drug, already on the market and readily available, as a potential “game changer” when paired with an antibiotic known as azithromycin.
The Food and Drug Administration recently issued an emergency authorization allowing doctors to prescribe them to COVID-19 patients.
The results have been significant, according to doctors who have followed Trump’s advice.
A Denver family physician who has worked in the area for nearly 50 years told CBS-4 that he prescribed a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to more than a dozen patients last week, and their symptoms immediately began to subside.
“They all did well. They seemed to reverse their symptoms in a day or two,” said Dr. Constantine Tsamasfyros, who added that he “absolutely” believes the drugs work against COVID-19.
When asked why he didn’t want to wait for additional testing before prescribing the medications, Tsamasfyros said that the anecdotal evidence was enough to convince him.
“If they’re drowning, you either pull them out of the water or at least throw them a rope to come out,” he said.
Dr. Marc Siegel similarly praised the drugs’ positive effects, telling Fox News he believes the medicine might have saved his father’s life.
Siegel’s 96-year-old father, who tested positive for the coronavirus, experienced a significant breakthrough after being prescribed hydroxychloroquine by his cardiologist.
“These preliminary steps are showing it decreases the severity [of COVID-19] early in the game,” Siegel said. “So if you’re a doctor and you take into account the side effects here—and there are some—you may decide it’s well worth it for some patients.”
A Democratic state representative in Michigan reported a similar breakthrough, and she, too, credited hydroxychloroquine. State Rep. Karen Whitsett said that two hours after taking the anti-malarial drugs, her symptoms began to disappear.
A Los Angeles doctor said that hydroxychloroquine tends to yield better results when paired with zinc in extreme COVID-19 cases.
“Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,” Dr. Anthony Cardillo, the CEO of Mend Urgent Care, told ABC-7. “So clinically I am seeing a resolution.”
When paired with zinc, hydroxychloroquine opens a channel, which then allows zinc to enter the cell and block virus’s replication, Cardillo explained.
Doctors in France made similar remarks late last month in a study that found hydroxychloroquine shortened the duration of the virus by limiting its ability to spread within the body.
Indeed, 37% of the 6,000+ physicians surveyed in a recent international poll said that hydroxychloroquine was the “most effective therapy” for the coronavirus.
New York’s doctors are actively prescribing the anti-malarial drugs to COVID-19 patients, according to Peter Navarro, a member of Trump’s task force. At the same time, the state’s hospitals have reported fewer intensive care unit hospitalizations over the past few days.
“In the New York health and hospitals system, virtually every patient now that comes in presenting COVID-19 symptoms is given a cycle of hydroxychloroquine, and when I discussed this last night with Mitch Katz, who is the head of that system, I asked him, are you doing that because the federal government is telling you or because you think it may work? And he said quite clearly that it may work,” Navarro told CNN.
Navarro blasted CNN and the rest of the mainstream media for dismissing this anecdotal evidence as worthless.
“This is a situation where this drug could save lives,” he said.”We are at war here, and what we’re trying to do is make sure as few people die as possible.”
He puzzled over why the left-wing journalists and others, who have spent more time than anyone dwelling on the devastation, would be so adverse to finding an effective treatment.
“I look at a study just this latest one, I read it … and there’s a control group where 80% do well and only 50% don’t,” Navarro said. “I mean, you could be a plumber and read that and come to the same conclusion. I don’t know why you’re so hard about this? Would you take it if you got sick?”