JAMA Rejected my Comment on Masks and HCQ

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JAMA Current  has rejected my comment to a recent peer-reviewed paper, used by the CDC to justify recommendations of universal masking and to downplay the role of hydroxychloroquine in preventing COVID-19 spread. It is well known that health care workers have been taking hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 prevention, and rightfully so. Such use increased after President Trump mentioned chloroquine derivatives in a March 19 briefing. For example, NPR wrote on March 23: Continue reading JAMA Rejected my Comment on Masks and HCQ →

Anti-HCQ Scientific Fraud, Boulware – Skipper, Part 2

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Hydroxychloroquine in Nonhospitalized Adults With Early COVID-19 , Skipper et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, July 16, is fraud.

This a second paper based on the same clinical trial NCT04308668, Post-exposure Prophylaxis / Preemptive Therapy for SARS-Coronavirus-2 (COVID-19 PEP). David Boulware, MD, was the Chief Investigator. The trial split into two parts: post-exposure prophylaxis (misreported in Boulware et al., NEJM, June 3), and early treatment (misreported in the currently discussed Skipper et al). Boulware and Skipper are among the authors in both papers, so they are referred here as BS-1 and BS-2, respectively. Dr. David Boulware is one of the leading authorities on hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19; the White House medical team asked his advice on COVID-19 prophylaxis. Caleb P Skipper (the guy with no photo) seems to be the designated scapegoat. His name did not appear on scientific papers before 2019. Continue reading Anti-HCQ Scientific Fraud, Boulware – Skipper, Part 2 →

Google vs HCQ

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Google search results for ‘hydroxychloroquine’ include a Knowledge Panel with misinformation:Screenshot of Google search for HCQ with wrong knowledge panel

This knowledge panel features what looks like a scientific description of hydroxychloroquine, except it is fraught with inaccurate information. It attributes to Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) the properties of an unrelated drug – hydroxyquinoline (HNL). 

Immunosuppressive drug and Anti-parasite

Drug class: Quinoline

Hydroxychloroquine is an Aminoquinoline, not Quinoline! FDA classifies Hydroxychloroquine as antirheumatic and antimalarial, NOT antiparasitic. Continue reading Google vs HCQ →

HCQ Treatment Improves Odds 3-5 times

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The Dr. Zelenko’s paper reported a 5x decrease in deaths and hospitalizations among COVID-19 patients who were treated early with HCQ+AZ+Zn, compared with similar patients who did not receive this treatment. Note that Dr. Zelenko treated only high risk patients and did not wait for test results before prescribing treatment. (The tests were performed or completed later)

The Henry Ford Hospitals’  study reported a 3x decrease in deaths among hospitalized patients receiving  HCQ treatments, compared with the control group, after matching propensity scores. This is much more than the 2x improvement, usually quoted by the media:

Hydroxychloroquine provided a 66% hazard ratio reduction, and hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin 71% compared to neither treatment (p < 0.001)

FDA LIED — PEOPLE DIED

In its June 15 letter, the FDA revoked the Emergency Use Authorization for Hydroxychloroquine, without affecting the status of hydroxychloroquine as an approved drug. The letter claimed 347 reports of adverse effects associated with HCQ, implying all these cases were reported from the US, and referencing an unpublished review. It published the review only on July 1. The review  listed only 97 cases reported in the US. There were also 250 cases abroad. 347 was a number of reported cases worldwide, not in the US.

Early HCQ plus AZ Treatment can End COVID-19 Epidemic

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2020-07-10: A long letter HCQ vs C19 is uploaded, then updated on 07-11.

To stop COVID-19, treat patients early with HCQ + AZ. That rapidly decreases the viral load in patients and thus, their probability of infecting others.

When the R drops below 1, the epidemic ends. Countries using CQ/HCQ for malaria, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and African countries, did not have a COVID-19 epidemic. Countries who started using HCQ+AZ in the early stage of the disease, stopped the epidemic.  All countries with high mortality rates did not use HCQ (except for Belgium, who used it too little and too late).

Peer reviewed studies show that Hydroxychloroquine works: “Global HCQ studies. PrEP, PEP, and early treatment studies show high effectiveness, while late treatment shows mixed results.”

Originally published on July 6. Updated on July 10.

Peonage Was Abolished. Do Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube Know?

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Twitter, Google’s YouTube, and Facebook use the uncompensated labor of their users. These platforms sell that labor, as a media product, to other users and advertisers for tens of billions of dollars.

Granted, not every tweet is labor, and not every Facebook or Twitter user is a laborer. But people who contribute using their professional skills or in a work-like manner (for example citizen-journalists or scientists) are indeed laborers. A single post or tweet might express the results of weeks or months of investigative journalism or research.

Twitter started as a communication utility. YouTube marketed itself as a platform for self-expression. Facebook was something of both. However, things started to change as all three companies introduced significant requirements for user-produced content. Slowly, the requirements became stricter and longer, becoming almost product specifications for the content. Only YouTube financially compensates its user-contributors, but considers this a privilege, to be granted or withdrawn at will (“demonetization”). Continue reading Peonage Was Abolished. Do Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube Know? →