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Update (June 23): The RECOVERY group posted the results of its study on dexamethasone to medRxiv on June 22.
In a press release on Tuesday (June 16), researchers from a large, randomized controlled trial for COVID-19 treatments announced that they’d seen an improvement in survival at 28 days after entry into the trial for the sickest patients who received the drug dexamethasone. In ventilated patients in particular, giving the steroid reduced deaths by one-third in the RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY) trial. And patients on supplemental oxygen who received dexamethasone had a 20 percent lower mortality rate than those who did not. In contrast, the press release reported no benefit of the medication in subjects who were not in need of respiratory support.
Although the results, which described the outcomes of 2,104 patients who received dexamethasone, are not yet published, their release has generated excitement. Already, ...
