Scientists retract studies that reported the health risks associated with hydroxychloroquine intake
Hydroxychloroquine, a prescription antimalarial drug has gained a lot of traction as a potential drug for the treatment of Covid-19.
On June 4, 2020, the Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, issued a retraction notice for a research article that had reported increased frequency of cardiovascular disorders and death in Covid-19 patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine either alone or with an antibiotic.
The study analyzed Covid-19 positive cases hospitalized between December 20, 2019, and April 14, 2020, in Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, South America, and Europe. This analysis showed that hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine (with/without antibiotics) treatment was responsible for a higher percentage of deaths and ventricular arrhythmias (rapid irregular heartbeat) compared with the patients who did not receive this treatment.
Shortly after this retraction, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) also retracted an article, published by the same authors that revealed an increased risk of in-hospital death for Covid-19 patients who had a history of cardiovascular disorders.
Both these observational studies had a negative impact and even halted many global clinical trials that were trying to test the effectiveness of this drug in Covid-19 patients.
The data for both the studies had been collected by Surgisphere, a Chicago-based data analytics company founded by one of the co-authors, Dr. Sapan Desai. The Lancet tried to independently verify the accuracy and validity of the data included in this study; however, the company could not provide access to the raw data citing confidentiality agreements and, therefore, did not pass the auditing process.
“We apologize to the editors and to readers of the Journal for the difficulties that this has caused,” the authors stated in their retraction notice to the editor of NEJM.
Such unverified studies have derailed the drug development process during this global pandemic. Based on these reports, the World Health Organization (WHO) had suspended the enrollment of patients in the hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine treatment section of the global mega trial, SOLIDARITY, which included other drugs, such as Remdesivir, Ritonavir/lopinavir, and Ritonavir/lopinavir along with interferon-beta. However, after these studies were questioned by other researchers who raised valid concerns regarding the data analysis, the WHO resumed the testing of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19.
