Fake ! Not only is hydroxychloroquine, particularly advocated by Professor Didier Raoult, not an effective treatment against Covid-19, but it also causes serious adverse effects. Belatedly, the journal which published the study on the use of this drug retracted this Tuesday. The contested effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine was the subject of heated controversy in the midst of a pandemic.
After more than four years of controversy, the founding study of the University Hospital Institute (IHU) of Marseille on the use of hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19, signed in particular by Professor Didier Raoult, was officially invalidated, announced, this Tuesday, December 17, 2024, the publisher of the journal which published it in March 2020.Concerns have been raised“related to respect for”publishing ethics“from the editor of the magazine, to”the appropriate conduct of research involving human participants, as well as concerns raised by three of the authors regarding the methodology and conclusions“, indicated Elsevier, the publisher of the scientific journal International journal of antimicrobial agentsin a long note justifying this retraction.
The article at the time was signed by 18 authors, notably Philippe Gautret, then professor at the IHU, and Professor Didier Raoult. These personalities intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, combined with an antibiotic (azithromycin) against Covid-19.
If this publication had fueled hopes of a treatment, it was quickly singled out by other scientists and ethics specialists for potential errors or even manipulation; which was subsequently proven by investigations by health authorities and certain media.
Scientific studies have subsequently all demonstrated the ineffectiveness of hydroxychloroquine against the virus. In addition, the use of this treatment has sometimes been associated with serious adverse effects, particularly cardiovascular ones.
Elsevier, which has enlisted the services of a “impartial expert acting as an independent advisor on publishing ethics“, presented in detail, yesterday, its in-depth investigation into the article. Its conclusions are damning; they point the finger at non-compliance with the rules, as much as at the manipulation or interpretation of the results. The editor also asserts that the authors have not argued convincingly in their defense.
His official retraction of the study invalidates the results.
The Gautret study was “the cornerstone of a global scandal“and its retraction”constitutes a late but essential recognition of the scientific excesses which have led to the endangerment of patients“, welcomed in a press release the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (SFPT), chaired by Professor Mathieu Molimard. The SFPT called for a broader questioning of the work carried out under the supervision of Professor Didier Raoult, in particular on hydroxychloroquine.
As a reminder, Hydroxychloroquine is responsible for at least 17,000 deaths in six countries, including France, according to a study in the scientific journal “Biomedecine et Pharmacotherapy” published in January 2024.
Coronavirus
