A drug infamously touted by Donald Trump has been linked to nearly 17,000 Covid deaths in a new scientific study.

Researchers say that the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine was prescribed to patients during the first wave of Covid-19 “despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits.”

The French study estimated that 16,990 patients in the US, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Turkey may have died as a result of the drug.

The study has been published in the February issue of Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.

Researchers say the data used comes from a study published in the Nature scientific journal, which reported that there was an 11 per cent increase in mortality rate linked to the drug’s prescription.

    • cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      To be fair, the 17000 were not even all Americans. 16,990 patients in the US, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Turkey. I too dislike Trump but the world is larger than the US

      • Kbobabob@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        We would need to see the breakdown. If it’s 14000 in the US and 3k elsewhere then that’s telling but i don’t see that information listed anywhere.

        Edit: Found it!. It’s about 13K in the US.

        Overall, using median estimates of HCQ use in each country, we estimated that 16,990 HCQ-related in-hospital deaths (range 6267–19256) occurred in the countries with available data. The median number of HCQ-related deaths in Belgium, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, and the USA was 240 (range not estimable), 95 (range 92–128), 199 (range not estimable), 1822 (range 1170–2063), 1895 (range 1475–2094) and 12739 (3244− 15570), respectively.

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      11 months ago

      Would’ve been hilarious if that matched the exact number of votes he lost Georgia by or something like that.

      • zea
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        11 months ago

        Sure, some of them were evil, but I bet most were just stupid and tribal. I’m sure plenty were helpful neighbors, good friends, average parents, a part of some community that now misses them. Many were good people whipped up into stupidity by a team that doesn’t care about them, we should remember their humanity.

        • DarkGamer@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          The same is true of Nazis as well, but I have a hard time having ethical consideration for those who wish to cause pain and suffering. I find it ironic and poetic when they cause it to themselves.

    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Unfortunately, a lot of patients didn’t actually have many options and were prescribed it without asking. In the early days of the pandemic, doctors were basically just throwing everything they could at it, to see what worked. If you got a conservative doctor, there was a good chance that you’d be prescribed it without ever asking for it.

      Because all the doctors were flying blind, but hey the news says this drug works so we might as well try it. They’re probably going to die without treatment anyways, so worst case scenario the result is the same as if they weren’t taking it. Nowhere to go but up, right? A lot of patients basically didn’t have a say, because they were hospitalized.

    • Veneroso@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      50% of people are below average intelligence. This is by the definition of averages. Republicans don’t have a monopoly on stupid. They do seem to have a vocal majority of them though.

      The waste from this, the people who died needlessly from not getting vaccinated, from drinking bleach, it’s sickening. That sentiment would likely not be shared should the situation be reversed.

      That’s 17,000 people who will not be voting in 2024.

      More than Trump needed to flip Georgia.