Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Another Study Finds No Benefit From Malaria Drug That Was So Often Touted As 'Game Changer'
The Associated Press: Malaria Drug Shows No Benefit In Another Coronavirus Study
A new study finds no evidence of benefit from a malaria drug widely promoted as a treatment for coronavirus infection. Hydroxychloroquine did not lower the risk of dying or needing a breathing tube in a comparison that involved nearly 1,400 patients treated at Columbia University in New York, researchers reported Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Marchione, 5/7)
Reuters: Malaria Drug Touted By Trump For Coronavirus Fails Another Test
Among patients given hydroxychloroquine, 32.3% ended up needing a ventilator or dying, compared with 14.9% of patients who were not given the drug. But doctors were more likely to give hydroxychloroquine to sicker patients, so researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center adjusted the rates to account for that. They concluded that the drug may not have hurt patients, but it clearly did not help. (Emery, 5/7)
The Wall Street Journal: Antimalaria Drug Doesn’t Help Treat Covid-19, Large But Inconclusive Study Finds
The results aren’t definitive, however. Unlike the most rigorous drug trials, patients in the study weren’t divided at random into one group getting the drug and another that didn’t, and researchers reviewed how patients fared after the fact. Also, patients got a mix of treatments, including other drugs. (Hopkins, 5/7)
Roll Call: States Weigh What To Do With Millions Of Malaria Pills
The Strategic National Stockpile has shipped 28 million tablets of a malaria drug that President Donald Trump touted as a potential treatment for COVID-19 to states since April 1. States received millions more from donations or taxpayer-funded purchases. But after doubts arose about whether the drug, hydroxychloroquine sulfate, is safe and effective for the coronavirus-based disease, states are donating supplies to patients who need them for other reasons, seeking refunds or weighing what to do with them. (Kopp, 5/7)
