I admit I didn’t see that coming after just last week the Governor of Michigan put out an executive order threatening doctors if they prescribed it for COVID-19. From the article:
The request comes as several hospitals throughout the state are using the drug “off label” to treat COVID-19 patients. A Henry Ford Health System official said Tuesday the hospital has treated roughly 800 of its COVID-19 patients, a majority of them with hydroxychloroquine treatments, and has seen some success.
The Governors earlier executive order was criticized in the state on the basis it hamstrung doctors in their attempt to treat patients:
Fortunately calmer heads prevailed realizing medical benefits outweigh scoring political points; Michigan is now the 3rd highest state in COVID-19 deaths.
She warned doctors who were stockpiling it for themselves, family members, friends and co-workers to stop or face sanction as this is a violation of both regulation and their oaths.
Hospitals were never barred from using it. This request is specifically for use by hospitals. This request and the order to not prescribe for outpatient use are not linked.
Many people didn’t read the actual letter sent out…only the CEC stories telling their audiences they should be mad at and scornful towards Whitmer for this.
Only to prevent stockpiling? No. Read the letter. It is ordered not to be used until its efficacy in treating the disease is proven. Stockpiling is discussed, but not the only issue.
Do I blame the Governor? No. She is following the advice of her medical experts just as Trump is following the advice of his medical experts.
Neither should be blamed for that. They are not medical experts themselves.
If I recall correctly (I’m not reading those links), she banned over-prescribing of the drug. So we are probably looking at a shortage from regular prescriptions.
It specifically states that this should not be used until it is proven effective. That is not ambiguous. If that was not one of the reasons for banning it, they could have left that out and gone with the rest. They said it. Not me. Not the CEC.
Actually, there is. The French doctor leading the studies on it in France said he got the idea from Chinese researchers who noticed lupus patients were not appearing among their patients for COVID-19.
This fact is also discussed in this recent research report:
Click the link to the full research report on this page where this is discussed.
If this is valid, then it would be very important that HCQ can also act as a preventive.
Keep in mind chloroquine and its modern derivative hydroxychloroquine were not initially developed for lupus. It was only after its widespread use for malaria was it discovered that it was also therapeutic for lupus.
