Hydroxychloroquine doesn't work against COVID-19 and may cause heart problems, largest study of its kind shows

Yet another medical study says hydroxychloroquine, the drug much hyped by Donald Trump, is not effective against COVID-19 and could also cause deadly heart problems.

The study was the largest of its kind, and was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

From CNN's Elizabeth Cohen:

It follows a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed the drug doesn't fight the virus.

Even before these reports were published, the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health issued warnings about using the drugs for coronavirus patients.

In the most recent study, researchers at the University at Albany looked at 1,438 patients with coronavirus who were admitted to 25 New York City area hospitals.

After statistical adjustments, the death rate for patients taking hydroxychloroquine was similar to those who did not take the drug. The death rate for those taking hydroxychloroquine plus the antibiotic azithromycin, was also similar.

The patients who took the drug combination were more than twice as likely to suffer cardiac arrest during the course of the study. Heart issues are a known side effect of hydroxychloroquine.

Read more:Hydroxychloroquine could cause heart problems, new study shows

[www.cnn.com, 5-11-2020, h/t Ram Ramgopal @RamCNN] Read the rest