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Update (April 13): Elsevier, copublisher of the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, issued a statement on April 11 that “additional independent peer review is ongoing to ascertain whether concerns about the research content of the paper have merit.”
With little evidence to back him, President Donald Trump has championed an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. His endorsement has led to hoarding and shortages for lupus patients who rely on the medicine.
While it may turn out to be an effective drug—and a number of clinical trials are aiming to find out—the clinical data so far are preliminary and, it turns out, possibly problematic.
According to a statement issued April 3 by the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC), the vanguard study cited by Trump and others in their endorsement of hydroxychloroquine “does not meet the Society’s expected standard, especially relating to the ...
