coronavirus

The ‘Evidence Is Clear': Hydroxychloroquine Doesn't Help COVID-19 Patients

The latest evidence shows no benefit to the drug when used in very sick patients

In this May 20, 2020, file photo, hydroxychloroquine sits on a shelf at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah.
George Frey/AFP via Getty Images (File)

Researchers at the University of Oxford in the U.K. have concluded that hydroxychloroquine does nothing to prevent COVID-19-related deaths, NBC News reports.

The research is a continuation of a major clinical trial that found that the drug — which has previously been touted by President Donald Trump and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro — had no clinical benefit.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined the outcomes of 1,561 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who received hydroxychloroquine and compared them to 3,155 patients who served as a control group.

Within a month, about a quarter of the patients in each group had died.

"The scientific evidence is clear," said Dr. Caleb Alexander, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "There is no convincing evidence of its effectiveness for treating COVID."

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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