'Beginning of the end': Renowned doctor sees 100% success with virus drug
Dr. Stephen Smith calls hydroxychloroquine treatment 'absolute game changer'
Calling it an "absolute game changer," renowned infectious disease specialist Dr. Stephen Smith said Wednesday he has seen 100% success in his treatment of 72 seriously ill COVID-19 patients with the drugs touted by the White House, hydroxchloroquine and azithromycin.
"I think this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic," he said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. "I'm very serious."
Smith said none of the patients he has treated with those drugs for five days or more have had to be intubated, meaning put on a ventilator to keep them breathing.
The FDA on Monday authorized "emergency use" of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients in hospitals and in clinical trials. The drug has successfully treated malaria and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus for decades.
The doctor said he is having statisticians examine the likelihood of his result, but a preliminary analysis by his sons concluded the chances are "point zero, zero, zero something."
"It's ridiculously low, no matter how you look at it," said Smith, who has been treating COVID-19 patients at his Smith Center for Infectious Diseases and Urban Health in East Orange, New Jersey.
"You worry about selection bias in this situation, but I cannot think of a reason why, if all else is equal, why people that have received five days or more – or even four days or more – of this hydroxychlorquine-azithro regimin wouldn't get intubated," he said.
"It's a game-changer. An absolute game-changer," Smith told Ingraham.
Do you think hydroxychloroquine should be used to treat coronavirus victims?
He believes his data will support other studies, such as one published earlier this month by French researchers finding remarkable success with hydroxychloroquine and antibiotics.
"Now you actually have an intra-cohort comparison saying that this regimen works," he said.
See the interview:
As WND reported March 25 a physician who works in New York City hospitals has found nearly 100% success treating COVID-19 patients with a combination of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and zinc sulfate.
One week ago, the governments of Italy and France approved the use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19 in response to a study by Dr. Didier Raoult, a professor of infectious diseases in Marseille.
Clinical trials underway
On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement announcing the FDA's limited approval that it had received 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate donated by Sandoz and 1 million doses of chloroquine phosphate donated by Bayer Pharmaceuticals for the national stockpile of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.
The agency said both drugs "have shown activity in laboratory studies against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19)."
"Anecdotal reports suggest that these drugs may offer some benefit in the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients," the HHS statement said. "Clinical trials are needed to provide scientific evidence that these treatments are effective."
Crediting President Trump for his "bold leadership," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the federal government will "continue working around the clock to get American patients access to therapeutics that may help them battle COVID-19, while building the evidence to evaluate which options are effective."
Democratic governors in Michigan and Nevada have restricted prescriptions of the two drugs. They claimed the drugs were being hoarded, prompting allegations Democrats are attempting to discredit medications promoted by the president.
Dr. Luciana Borio, who served as FDA acting chief scientist under President Obama, criticized the agency's emergency-use order.
On Twitter, she insisted there's a "total lack of scientific evidence that chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine are beneficial in the treatment of COVID-19."
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