By Andrea Morris : Jul 28, 2020 CBN News
"I myself know of two doctors
who have saved the lives of hundreds of patients with these medications but are
now fighting state medical boards to save their licenses and reputations. The
cases against them are completely without scientific merit." -Yale
Epidemiology Professor Dr. Harvey Risch
[CBN News]
As the number of deaths from COVID-19 rises, the debate over the effectiveness
of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has also persisted. (Image: via
CBN News)
In an op-ed published by Newsweek,
Yale Epidemiology Professor Dr. Harvey Risch wrote that hydroxychloroquine is
"highly effective, especially when given in combination with the
antibiotics azithromycin or doxycycline and the nutritional supplement
zinc."
Risch said the drug works against the virus when taken
early before it multiplies throughout the body. He said some physicians who
prescribed hydroxychloroquine to patients are now being scrutinized for their
actions.
But the Yale professor contends that these determined
doctors were working in the best interest of their patients.
"Physicians who have been using these medications
in the face of widespread skepticism have been truly heroic," he wrote.
"They have done what the science shows is best for their patients, often
at great personal risk.
"I myself know of two doctors who have saved the
lives of hundreds of patients with these medications but are now fighting state
medical boards to save their licenses and reputations. The cases against them
are completely without scientific merit," Risch added.
Hydroxychloroquine was praised by President Trump
early on in the pandemic, despite warnings from some public health officials
that the drug's effectiveness against COVID-19 was questionable.
CBN News previously
reported that a new study revealed the drug was actually helping patients survive
COVID-19. In fact, the study from the Henry Ford Health System in Michigan said
the drug "significantly" cut the death rate of patients.
"Treatment with hydroxychloroquine cut the death
rate significantly in sick patients hospitalized with COVID-19—and without
heart-related side-effects," the health organization reported.
Risch pointed out real-life examples of how the drug
has worked. He wrote that the number of COVID-19 related deaths in the northern
Brazil state of Pará had rapidly increased a few months ago. The public
hospital network bought 75,000 doses of azithromycin and 90,000 doses of
hydroxychloroquine on April 6.
"Even though new cases continued to occur, on May
22 the death rate started to plummet and is now about one-eighth what it was at
the peak," Risch wrote.
He said a similar instance occurred—in reverse—in
Switzerland in May after the Swiss national government prohibited outpatient
use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19.
"Around June 10, COVID-19 deaths increased
four-fold and remained elevated," Risch explained. "On June 11, the
Swiss government revoked the ban, and on June 23 the death rate reverted to
what it had been beforehand.
Thousands 'Are Dying Unnecessarily' Due to a
'Propaganda War'
Risch said the drug is disregarded by some doctors and
has become the victim of a "propaganda war."
"As a result, tens of thousands of patients with
COVID-19 are dying unnecessarily," Risch said.
"It's a political drug now, not a medical
drug," Risch
said. "I think we are basically fighting a propaganda war against
the medical facts, and that colors not just population people, how they think
about it, but doctors, as well. There are many doctors that I've gotten hostile
remarks from, saying that all the evidence is bad for it and, in fact, that is
not true at all."
He also noted the problems with the concerns raised by
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the risk of patients having an
irregular heartbeat while taking hydroxychloroquine.
Risch pointed out that what the FDA doesn't mention is
that this side effect occurred when patients used hydroxychloroquine for long
periods of time, often for the treatment of arthritis and lupus.
"In the future, I believe this misbegotten
episode regarding hydroxychloroquine will be studied by sociologists of
medicine as a classic example of how extra-scientific factors overrode
clear-cut medical evidence. For the sake of high-risk patients, for the sake of
our parents and grandparents, for the sake of the unemployed, for our economy
and for our polity, especially those disproportionally affected, we must start
treating immediately," Risch concluded.
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