Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe world’s largest randomized trial of COVID-19 treatments found “conclusive evidence” that remdesivir, a drug used to treat U.S. President Donald Trump when he fell ill, has little or no effect on severe cases, the U.N. health agency said Friday.
The World Health Organization announced the long-awaited results of a six-month trial that endeavored to see if existing drugs might have an effect on the coronavirus.
The study, which was not peer-reviewed, found that four treatments tested—remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon—had “ little or no effect” on whether or not patients died within about a month or whether hospitalized patients recovered.
Most of those had already been ruled out. But remdesivir, an antiviral, has been classified as standard-of-care in the United States, and it has been approved for use against COVID-19 in the UK and EU. Supplies of the drug have been limited, and the European Medicines Agency is now reviewing whether remdesivir is causing kidney problems as reported by some patients.
The results of the global trial are in sharp contrast to a large study in the United States, which found remdesivir shortened the time to recovery by about five days on average.
Martin Landray, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Oxford University, said the WHO trial results for hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir were in line with a previous British study he co-led.
“The big story is the finding that remdesivir produces no meaningful impact on survival,” he said in a statement. He said the drug is now recommended in some countries but there have been significant concerns about supply, cost and access.
“This is a drug that has to be given by intravenous infusion for five to 10 days,” noting it costs about $2,550 per treatment course. “COVID affects millions of people and their families around the world. We need scalable, affordable, and equitable treatments.”
The treatments given to President Trump after he tested positive for the coronavirus included remdesivir.
WHO said the study, which covered more than 30 countries, looked at the effects of the treatments on overall death rates, whether or not patients need breathing machines, and how much time patients spent recovering in hospitals.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
So Trump and his minions were lying again? Did he ever really have the virus? How many lies is this now? 26,784?
James W. that makes absolutely no sense that President Trump would lie about having the virus. With narcissist being one of the favorite terms used to describe him, why would he show “weakness” by admitting he had tested positive, even if he hadn’t? Everyone involved at Walter Reed would have to be involved also which is highly doubtful. If President Trump wanted to claim he had it, would have been much easier to just stay at the White House to control those involved.
How much of our tax dollars has been spent stock piling hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir?
The better question is what have they wasted MORE money on: Trump golf trips or stocking up fake treatments that Trump makes personal gains on? I can’t wait for the Trump Train to come to a screeching halt on November 3rd.
Why would anyone believe ANYTHING from the
W. H. O. ???
Wait long enough and they’ll reverse this statement.
The key word may be “severe” and it’s definition for the study compared to how the drug was used in the U.S. study. It also depends on what other supportive care was available. That’s why these studies can be hard to interpret.
Key phrase – “The study, which was not peer-reviewed, found that four treatments tested”. As of two weeks ago there were over 30 studies that regarding Covid treatments that had been debunked once they were peer reviewed. Covid has become politicized and even the science world can’t publish unbiased findings at the moment. Hopefully that will change November 4th.