Fact check
Is it true: Hydroxychloroquine COVID promotion and suppression (Mar-Jun 2020)?
Partly — it's more complicated than the claim suggests.
Trump's March 19 2020 'game-changer' framing prompted HCQ prescribing spikes and FDA EUA (March 28). The Lancet (May 22) and NEJM (May 1) observational studies showing HCQ harm were both retracted June 4-5 2020 after Surgisphere's database was found fictitious (CEO Sapan Desai). FDA revoked EUA June 15 2020. RECOVERY and WHO Solidarity RCTs confirmed no meaningful benefit. The claim HCQ was suppressed despite proven efficacy is not supported; the randomised-trial evidence of no benefit is robust.
The claim
On 19 March 2020 President Trump called hydroxychloroquine a 'game-changer' for COVID-19 at a White House press briefing. The FDA granted an Emergency Use Authorization on 28 March 2020. Off-label pre
Key evidence
Trump March 19 2020: HCQ a 'game-changer' — no RCT evidence at the time
FDA EUA revoked June 15 2020
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