Hydroxychloroquine: the French government seizes the High Council of public health

Olivier Véran gave the HCSP 48 hours to propose a revision of the derogatory rules for the prescription of hydroxychloroquine. Ian Langsdon / Pool via REUTERS

Text by: RFI Follow

The French Minister of Health Olivier Véran asked this Saturday May 23 for a revision of the prescription rules for hydroxychloroquine, after the publication of a study in the medical journal The Lancet pointing out its ineffectiveness and even the risks for Covid patients -19.

Publicity

Read more

“  Following the publication in The Lancet of a study alerting to the ineffectiveness and risks of certain treatments of Covid-19 including hydroxychloroquine, I asked the HCSP (High Council for Public Health) to the analysis and suggests to me within 48 hours a revision of the derogating rules of prescription  ”, indicates on Twitter the French Minister of Health Olivier Véran.

The reaction was immediate. And for good reason: the study published in the prestigious medical journal deals a new blow to the use of hydroxychloroquine for patients with Covid-19. It concerns 96,000 patients and shows that neither chloroquine nor hydroxychloroquine are effective against the coronavirus in hospitalized patients. On the contrary, these molecules even increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmia and the risk of death.

Before Olivier Véran asked that the prescription rules be reviewed, France had already restricted the use of hydroxychloroquine, used only in hospitals and only for serious cases on the collegial decision of doctors.

This molecule, derived from the antimalarial chloroquine, has enjoyed unprecedented notoriety since Professor Didier Raoult, of the University Hospital Institute (IHU) in Marseille, relayed a small, little detailed Chinese study at the end of February, claiming that phosphate chloroquine was showing signs of efficacy in patients with SARS-CoV2. Since then, it has continued to ignite the debates. President Donald Trump has announced that he takes it every day as a precaution, and Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil has recommended its use.

It is not the first time that a study has contradicted Professor Raoult. Two other studies, one Chinese and the other French, published last week, have found that hydroxychloroquine does not reduce the risk of admission to intensive care or death in patients hospitalized with pneumonia due to Covid- 19.

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • France
  • Health and Medicine
  • Coronavirus