Hydroxychloroquine study retracted

A key study covered in last week’s show has been retracted by the authors, who couldn't verify the data...
08 June 2020

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An update on a previous story from Chris Smith and Phil Sansom...

Chris - A key study which we covered in last week’s show has been retracted. This was all about hydroxychloroquine, the drug proposed as a possible COVID-19 treatment that was famously endorsed by Donald Trump.

Phil - This study, published in the Lancet, seemed to show evidence that the drug didn’t work and might even be harmful to COVID patients. After aspects of the work were questioned, requests were made to verify the patient data used in the study, which were supplied by a company called Surgisphere.

Chris - But Surgisphere have not released the data, citing confidentiality as the reason. This terminated the review process and led to the paper’s retraction. That said, other more reliable trials analysed since have also concluded that hydroxychloroquine is of no benefit in COVID-19. So we can probably assume that we're not going to have to use it or worry about it furtuer.

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