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Mayo Clinic Updates Guidance, Now States Hydroxychloroquine Is Effective Against COVID-19

The guidance change comes three years after more than 6,000 doctors in 30 countries said HCQ was the 'most effective therapy' against the coronavirus

Published: September 25, 2023
  |   By Adrian Norman

The Mayo Clinic has quietly updated its guidance on treatments for COVID-19, now stating that hydroxychloroquine is effective aginst the virus.

In a section on its website describing the long-used medicine, Mayo now says: “Hydroxychloroquine may also be used to treat coronavirus (COVID-19) in certain hospitalized patients.”

A note at the bottom of the page states “Portions of this document last updated: Sept. 01, 2023.”

Mayo also says that “Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) should only be used for COVID-19 in a hospital or during clinical trials” and advises patients not to take medicine that contains HCQ “unless prescribed by your doctor,” though the same is often said for every medicine.

Previously, in a July 20 post, Mayo stated HCQ was “authorized for emergency use by the [Food & Drug Administration] during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the FDA withdrew that authorization when data analysis showed that the drugs are not effective for treating COVID-19,” adding that “it is not known” if HCQ is “effective against COVID-19.”

The latest guidance brings the medical group in line with three years of research showing that the medicinal protocol was, and remains, an effective treatment against COVID-19.

Since the early months of the 2020 pandemic, there have been more than 400 studies demonstrating the efficacy of HCQ against the COVID-19 virus. In studies where the drug was used in early treatment protocols, the results show significant improvement in mortality and hospitalization. Late treatments demonstration a 20 percent lower risk in negative outcomes, while very late treatment was shown to be potentially harmful, particularly with excessive doses.

HCQ became a political flashpoint after former President Donald Trump told reporters in May 2020 that he was taking the medicine prophylactically.

A month prior, an international poll of 6,227 physicians in 30 countries found the drug was considered the “most effective therapy” for the coronavirus.

Some argued that federal health agencies intentionally ignored the testimony of thousands of doctors who had successfully used the drug, and also the early data showing HCQ’s effectiveness in a politically motivated campaign to drag the crisis out to damage Trump.

Some prominent doctors who openly supported the ability to prescribe HCQ to treat Covid were censored on social media, while others were sanctioned or faced suspension over voicing claims that were just a short time ago shunned by the federal bureaus, but now accepted as truth.

Following news of the updated guidance from Mayo, social media users expressed outrage over the late-stage acceptance of HCQ as a viable Covid treatment protocol.

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