A recent study suggests that the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), once touted by some policymakers and health professionals as a potential treatment for COVID-19, may have been linked to nearly 17,000 deaths during the pandemic’s first wave.
The study, published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, analyzed the use of HCQ in six countries—France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United States—from March to July 2020. Researchers led by Jean-Christophe Lega, a Professor of Therapeutics in the Lyon, France hospital system, utilized data from a 2021 meta-analysis published in Nature which reported an “11 per cent increase in the mortality rate in a meta-analysis of randomised trials” for patients treated with HCQ.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in March 2020, but revoked it in June. The drug had been prescribed despite the absence of robust evidence supporting its efficacy against COVID-19 and was later found to potentially cause severe side effects, including heart rhythm abnormalities.
The study’s estimated deaths included roughly 240 in Belgium, 199 in France, 1,822 in Italy, and 1,895 in Spain. According to the researchers, these numbers are conservative estimates, suggesting that the actual global figures could be much higher.
Hydroxychloroquine’s prominence during the early pandemic days was partly due to French microbiologist Didier Raoult. It was also seen as a “miracle cure” by the then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who stated: “What do you have to lose? Take it.” French President Emmanuel Macron also visited the facility.
The research team from Lyon and Quebec cautioned that their study could also be an “undercount” but could equally be a “significant overcount” due to the inherent uncertainties of the data, particularly in countries like France, Turkey, and Belgium where information on exposure to the drug was limited. However, the range of potential hydroxychloroquine-induced deaths was broad, with estimates that the true number could be between 3,000 and 30,000.
Lega warned, “What we need to bear in mind is that this is a rough estimate, in the sense that it only concerns a few countries over a short period, and that the total number of deaths is probably much higher.”
The findings have sparked calls for tighter regulations on access to off-label prescriptions during future pandemics to prevent similar outcomes.
Relevant articles:
– Hydroxychloroquine use during COVID pandemic may have induced 17,000 deaths, new study finds
– Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during Covid, study finds
– Nearly 17,000 people may have died from hydroxychloroquine: study