In an open letter, 120 scientists from around the world questioned the study published in the journal The Lancet which directly led to the suspension by the WHO of clinical trials against Covid-19 based on chloroquine.
- Among the scientists signing the open letter are clinicians, statisticians and other researchers from around the world, from Harvard to Imperial College London
- In particular, they question the origin of the data used in the study published in the journal The Lancet.
- The methodology of the study is also questioned.
- Surgisphere, the company that collected the data used in the study published in The Lancet, defended the integrity of the data used.
A few days ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to suspend all studies carried out with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. A decision made just after publication in the journal The Lancet of a study that finds no benefit from the use of chloroquine-based treatments on patients with Covid-19. Worse, this treatment would be dangerous because of its side effects, particularly cardiovascular.
New review of study demanded
This Friday, May 29, 120 scientists from all over the world affixed their signatories to a open letter to express their concerns about the methods of the large study published in The Lancet. Among the signatories of this open letter are clinicians, statisticians and other researchers from around the world, from Harvard to Imperial College London. Didier Raoult’s spokesperson also shared his questions about the study questioning the use of chloroquine on Twitter
Faced with the significant media coverage of this study and everything related to chloroquine causing “considerable concern among patients and participants” in clinical trials, the scientists call for an independent analysis of the study’s findings. “I have serious doubts about the benefits of chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine treatment for Covid-19 and can’t wait for this story to end, but I believe research integrity cannot be relied upon alone when an article does not go in the direction of our preconceptions”, summarized on Twitter Professor François Balloux, of University College London.
It is with a heavy heart that I added my name to an open letter raising questions on, and requesting the release of data/code of a large and influential #COVID19 H-chloroquine (CQ/HCQ) observational study in the Lancet.
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CC @richardhorton1 https://t.co/A2CzatgKNC— Prof Francois Balloux (@BallouxFrancois) May 28, 2020
The origin of the data, the main point of contention
For the signatories of this letter, many points raise questions in the study published by The Lancet. “This review raised both methodological and data integrity concerns.”, advance the scientists in the letter. The study published in The Lancet is based on data from some 96,000 patients hospitalized between December and April in 671 hospitals, and compares the condition of those who received the treatment with those who did not. The comparison of data from several hospitals with different protocols or the origin of the data are part of the list of questions raised by the hundred scientists. Do they “can name the Canadian hospitals they claim have contributed data, so it can be independently verified?”, For example, asked on Twitter Todd Lee, expert in infectious diseases at the Canadian University McGill.
Can the authors of the nejm ace/arb corona paper and the lancet hcq paper to release the names of the Canadian hospitals they claim contributed to the dataset so that they can be independently verified? @TheLancet @NEJM
—Todd Lee (@DrToddLee) May 27, 2020
In one communicatedSurgisphere, the company that collected the data used in the study published in The Lancet, defended the integrity of its data. She adds that the hospitals that provided them are collaborators and that the agreement in the use of the data that binds them “do not allow us to make them public”. Epidemiologist Allen Cheng, one of the signatories, questioned this version since he pointed out that data presented as coming from Australian hospitals would in fact come from Asian countries.
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