On June 5, The Lancet, the premier British medical journal with impact factor of 59, was forced to retract a study, which claimed the use of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat the Covid-19 increased the mortality rate among patients, and publish a correction (read public apology).
Today, three of the authors have retracted "Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis" Read the Retraction notice and statement from The Lancet https://t.co/pPNCJ3nO8n pic.twitter.com/pB0FBj6EXr
— The Lancet (@TheLancet) June 4, 2020
In the last two months, HCQ, a cheap anti-malarial drug produced primarily in India, has become the most politicized medicine in the world, thanks to endorsement by Trump.
Here at TFI, from day one we argued that the many players want to undermine the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine as preventive drug, for various reasons.
Initially the global liberal media opposed it because Trump endorsed it and many other right wing leaders like Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, supported its use as a preventive drug.
And then big pharmaceutical companies, which wanted to benefit majorly from the pandemic, but saw their chances being diminished due to HCQ, started a campaign against it, with the help of financial media, medical journals, and shady trials with the help of complicit medical professionals.
The politicization of drug resulted in loss of many lives, as countries like France and Italy, stopped giving Hydroxychloroquine as prophylactic drug after the study against its effectiveness and increased mortality rate was published in The Lancet.
TFI’s coverage of the whole HCQ saga will give you a glimpse of how politicization of a drug exposed world’s respected medical journals; the Big pharmaceutical companies, global liberal media; financial media houses; and complicit medical community.
It has almost two months since we published our first article on HCQ, under the title- From SAARC nations to USA, the world is counting on India for this wonder drug, and India has heard their call, on April 6.
“If this drug proves effective against COVID-19, which seems very likely given the consensus in the medical and political class, India would have a huge advantage, as the country alone supplies more than three fourth of global demand. Ipca Laboratories, a company based Mumbai alone supplies 70 percent of the global consumption of this drug,” we wrote at that time.
We, at TFI, felt that given the bias of global liberal media against Modi and Trump, it is very likely that the drug would be politicized. And the very next day, we were vindicated, when right from BBC to The Washington Post carried out stories of Hydroxychloroquine being not effective.
‘HCQ is not effective,’ Global media desperately tries to downplay ‘wonder drug’ because it gives India an advantage, published on TFI, on April 8.
After that, when financial media houses like Bloomberg and Financial Times carried story about Gilead, an American biotech firm, has produced a drug Remdesivir, which is very effective, despite evidences of contrary in various trials, while at the same time undermining the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine as prophylactic, we published a story titled- ‘Buy Gilead, not HCQ,’ American media is rattled by the success of Indian HCQ and the reason is business, on April 13.
On April 19, we published a story about big pharmaceutical companies conducting and financing shady trials of HCQ, and concluding that HCQ could increase mortality rate, in a story titled- Overdose, deaths & propaganda: Global Big Pharma conducted faulty trials of India’s HCQ in order to discredit it.
Since then, we have published four more stories on China confirming the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine back in February when HCQ was not politicized on May 3; Modi government continuing with HCQ despite WHO’s warning on May 27; various countries around the world losing doctors and health workers while their death rate being lowest in India lowest due to using of HCQ as preventive on June; and finally the story of The Lancet being exposed and WHO being left red faced after the study which concluded Hydroxychloroquine increase the death among patients found to have no scientific basis.
Modi government shows the right finger to WHO again, sticks with HCQ despite WHO’s warning
Other countries have lost doctors in thousands. India hasn’t. The reason is HCQ
In utter humiliation, WHO forced to resume HCQ trial as the study by The Lancet found questionable
We, at TFI, do not usually do chest thumping, but we are proud to be vindicated on every story reported on Hydroxychloroquine. The whole HCQ saga also exposes the nexus of big pharmaceutical companies, financial media houses, and most reputed medical journals. Also, the moral of the story is that unnecessary politicization of science by left or right, could lead to massive damage to human beings.
