Testing times

摘要

ONCE PRAISED as a miracle cure for covid-19, an antimalarial drug called hydroxychloroquine has rarely been out of the headlines since the start of the pandemic. It was hoped it might find a new use as a therapy in patients who are unwell with the novel coronavirus. But in recent weeks a scientific picture has emerged of a treatment that does not appear to be helping patients at all, and might even be causing harm. Whether it helps seems clear now: it doesn't. When it comes to the harm, though, it turns out that the scientific literature may be misleading. On June 4th the Lancet, a respected medical journal, retracted a high-profile paper published only a month previously. This had suggested that hydroxychloroquine and its analogue, chloroquine, actually increased the death rate in hospitals when taken by those with covid-19. This led the World Health Organisation to halt its trials of the drug. It also caused considerable concern to patients and to those enrolled on other such trials.