Sorry, I wrote that in a hurry and didn’t have time to report all of my reasoning. According to Wikipedia:
Hydroxychloroquine was approved for medical use in the United States in 1955.[1] It is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system.
Yes the therapeutic index is low and I’m not a doctor but I don’t think that mean it’s easy to overdose if you follow direction. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a very widely prescribed drug (in parts of the world where malaria is common). I haven’t seen any reports or warnings of people overdosing after following recommended dosages (ETA: except after taking it for years). I only found accidents or suicides.
And you’re right the paper is not a normal academic paper, but that is understandable given the fast moving circumstances. I do think it’s pretty strong Bayesian evidence that Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine do more good than harm. Suppressing the immune system may be part of how it works (i.e., the immune system can do a lot of damage to one’s lungs in the course of fighting infection).
Thanks for the additional info. (I think this could well be a good idea, but I think it’s also good for people to know they need to be a big careful about it. E.g., to what extent do people self-prescribing chloroquine have access to good directions to follow, on how to dose it?)
Sorry, I wrote that in a hurry and didn’t have time to report all of my reasoning. According to Wikipedia:
Yes the therapeutic index is low and I’m not a doctor but I don’t think that mean it’s easy to overdose if you follow direction. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a very widely prescribed drug (in parts of the world where malaria is common). I haven’t seen any reports or warnings of people overdosing after following recommended dosages (ETA: except after taking it for years). I only found accidents or suicides.
And you’re right the paper is not a normal academic paper, but that is understandable given the fast moving circumstances. I do think it’s pretty strong Bayesian evidence that Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine do more good than harm. Suppressing the immune system may be part of how it works (i.e., the immune system can do a lot of damage to one’s lungs in the course of fighting infection).
Thanks for the additional info. (I think this could well be a good idea, but I think it’s also good for people to know they need to be a big careful about it. E.g., to what extent do people self-prescribing chloroquine have access to good directions to follow, on how to dose it?)