LF: The Science Supports the Use of Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19, So Why Are Doctors Being Censored?

Title: The Science Supports the Use of Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19, So Why Are Doctors Being Censored?
Source: PJ Media
URL Source: https://pjmedia.com/columns/stacey- ... doctors-being-censored-n721701
Published: Jul 28, 2020
Author: Stacey Lennox
Post Date: 2020-07-30 23:47:02 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 326

The ridiculous assault on hydroxychloroquine by the media and the political left just needs to end. The research on the drug, related specifically to SARS CoV-1, is over a decade old and was performed by our own National Institutes of Health (NIH). The fact that practicing physicians are being censored for advocating the use of the medication on an outpatient basis and prophylactically is patently insane.

The fact that Donald Trump Jr. had his Twitter account locked for sharing the video of licensed doctors making their case for its use is just nuts. For social media platforms that insist people follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO)., they must have missed this statement:

This evidence does not apply to the use of hydroxychloroquine for preventing #COVID19 infections or treating non-hospitalized patients, two areas where we still need more evidence on the drug's effectiveness against the #coronavirus.

Nothing from the WHO or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled out the use of the drug to prevent COVID-19 or treat it in the outpatient setting. The trials mentioned in the tweet were for late-stage disease and often utilized exceptionally high doses with the potential for toxicity. The FDA eliminated compassionate use for late-stage COVID-19. It has not made a determination on outpatient use and there are 243 ongoing trials globally according to the NIH.

The president has science behind his optimism about hydroxychloroquine

The studies referenced by the WHO in the tweet above are the same ones criticized by the members of America’s Frontline Doctors, who gave the press conference yesterday. The video went viral and the censors are out in force, despite their statements not violating current WHO guidance. They are real doctors with real licenses and real practices. You may check them out yourself.

In full disclosure, I am a licensed nurse in the state of New York. I no longer work in that capacity, but that does not negate years of education and experience. I began researching COVID-19 early in the pandemic because friends and family often rely on me for guidance and information on health-related matters.

While I support President Trump and will be voting for him in November, nothing I will say here is influenced by that fact. This is the same information I have given my own parents, who, due to their age, are high-risk by definition. I encourage you to do your own research and make your own health decisions.

Unfortunately, your choices for treatment are being limited by state and local governments in some cases. Information to help you is also being limited by the tech censors, so I will include as much here as I can.

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America’s Frontline Doctors are advocating for the use of hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and azithromycin early in the illness and prophylactically. The most emphatic physician did overstate her case calling the drug combination a “cure.” However, if it can be verified that all of her 350 patients are still alive, then her patients have been cured.

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While Dr. Stella Immanuel could have toned down her optimism, she and other doctors present cited a 2005 study from the NIH related to SARS as the reason for investigating hydroxychloroquine. I archived it here in case it is disappeared. (For clarity)

Results

We report, however, that chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells. These inhibitory effects are observed when the cells are treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. (preventing and treatind SARS) In addition to the well-known functions of chloroquine such as elevations of endosomal pH, the drug appears to interfere with terminal glycosylation of the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. (ACE-2 the receptor used by COVID-19) This may negatively influence the virus-receptor binding and abrogate the infection, with further ramifications by the elevation of vesicular pH, resulting in the inhibition of infection and spread of SARS CoV at clinically admissible concentrations. (May inhibit SARS from entering the cell to replicate)
Conclusion

Chloroquine is effective in preventing the spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. Favorable inhibition of virus spread was observed when the cells were either treated with chloroquine prior to or after SARS CoV infection. In addition, the indirect immunofluorescence assay described herein represents a simple and rapid method for screening SARS-CoV antiviral compounds.

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have the same pharmacological action in the body. The latter is considered to be safer, which is why it is being used. Both drugs are also zinc ionophores. This means if the virus successfully enters the cells, they hold open the passage and pull more zinc in. Zinc interferes with the virus’s ability to replicate or photocopy its RNA. The NIH knows that too. Archived for posterity here.

Azithromycin or doxycycline both have an anti-inflammatory effect. Since the outpatient disease can include inflammation in the lungs, these are added to the treatment. Some doctors are now using inhaled steroids, also an anti-inflammatory, such as budesonide, to treat this symptom.

All of these drugs have excellent safety profiles, a long history of use, and are generic. This means they are inexpensive and could easily be made widely available. This was summarized by Dr. James Todero who also spoke at the press conference. I am including his entire commentary here because I think it is important.

Dr. Joe Ladapo, a physician and researcher at UCLA, spoke as well. While he says there is data on both sides of the debate, the level of controversy is out of bounds. He asserts that the right answer amid a pandemic cannot be to limit doctors’ treatment options. Especially with a drug with such a good safety profile. He ended by saying the fact that both Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine have had to retract studies should raise alarm bells. This is unprecedented.

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If you recall, President Trump expressed hope about both hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir in that fateful press conference. There were reasons to be hopeful about both. President Trump and researchers the world over did not land on hydroxychloroquine for no reason. You can see that from the NIH research alone.

Once they knew the similarities in the virus sequence to SARS and the basic way the virus was operating, it made perfect sense to investigate the drug. So why did the media attack only hydroxychloroquine? Why couldn’t Saint Fauci™ articulate the clear rationale for the drug’s potential? Especially after Remdesivir was shown to shorten hospital stays but not reduce deaths.

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I have my suspicions and they are not flattering for our health agencies. Or Saint Fauci™. The only concern right now should be keeping people out of the hospital, safely opening our economy, and reopening schools. I fear some in the bureaucracy have other agendas.

Remdesivir is praised w/ tightly guarded data by the NIH and a task force of Gilead investors/employees

You can make your own conclusions. However, it appears America’s Frontline Doctors may have made too big an impression. Maybe too many calls to congressional offices?

President Trump should demand an investigation ASAP. Hydroxychloroquine is limited in 44 states. In some cases, the pharmacist can overrule a doctor’s prescription. This is unprecedented. In other cases, state medical boards are threatening doctors who prescribe it. There are 243 studies going on globally. Off-label use would be completely acceptable with this drug’s decades of use and safety profile.

I am very concerned that lives and health are being sacrificed for politics and profits. This needs to be rectified immediately. (1 image)