Hydroxychloroquine – What Practicing Doctors Are Saying

Pam Barker | Director of TLB Europe Reloaded Project

UPDATE: Check this article republished by Zerohedge today titled The Mysterious Missing Link – Anti-Malaria Drug & Zinc. Of note:

Mystery surrounds why an anti-malaria drug is not being tested as a Covid-19 treatment in combination with zinc, which doctors say is crucial for efficacy.

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We came across this interesting piece by an actual practicing doctor, cardiologist Dr. Louis Grenzer treating COVID with hydroxychloroquine in conjunction with the antibiotic azithromycin. The second, brief article from the New York Post below concerns a poll taken of doctors worldwide regarding this drug.

Dr. Grenzer mentions the ‘QT interval’ in relation to the use of both hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, as both can prolong the QT interval. What is the QT interval? According to The QT interval: How long is too long?:

The QT interval on the ECG is measured from the beginning of the QRS complex to the end of the T wave (see ECG components). It represents the time it takes for the ventricles of the heart to depolarize and repolarize, or to contract and relax.

The QT interval is longer when the heart rate is slower and shorter when the heart rate is faster.

According to What Clinicians Should Know About the QT Interval:

The QT interval on the electrocardiogram (ECG) has gained clinical importance, primarily because prolongation of this interval can predispose to a potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmia known as torsades de pointes.

Zinc?

Zinc was not mentioned by Dr. Grenzer. But it was mentioned by Trump when he declared he had been prescribed it by White House physician Dr. Sean Conley in conjunction with hydroxy, not to cure but to prevent covid. See this Zerohedge piece titled Trump Admits To Taking Hydroxychloroquine With Zinc As Preventative Measure. Zinc is known to prevent viral replication according to Dr. Anthony Cardillo:

Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,” said Los Angeles doctor Dr. Anthony Cardillo, adding “So clinically I am seeing a resolution.”

Cardillo, CEO of Mend Urgent Care, says that the drug must be used in conjunction with Zinc, as the hydroxycholoroquine opens a ‘channel’ for the mineral to enter cells and prevent the virus from replicating.

Dr. Cardillo speaks around the 3-minute, 20-second mark:

Could azithromycin, a QT-elevating antibiotic, be replaced with zinc? At any rate, this list of medications to avoid when having prolonged QT syndrome does not mention zinc.

We’re assuming that the President of the United States has some of the most informed doctors in the world working for him. Trump’s treatment probably cost very little to administer since hydroxy comes in at several pills for a few euros.

The Lancet Contradicts Itself

We also recommend this piece by Paul Craig Roberts, titled The Campaign Against HCQ—Part II, who considers the corrupt, politicized nature of medical research and ‘respected’ medical journal The Lancet‘s recent about-face in relation to a drug it used to tout. Of note:

The Lancet study was a rush job as it was essential for Big Pharma to prevent the spread of the HCQ treatment and awareness of its safety and effectiveness.The study’s authors completed the data collection around the middle of April and the study was published on May 22. As soon as it appeared, it was used to close down the World Health Organization’s clinical trial of hydoxychloroquine in coronavirus patients citing safety concerns. Most likely, the trial was aborted in order to prevent an official agency from finding out that HCQ worked.

The media, of course, used the suspended trial to cast more doubt on Trump’s judgment for recommending and using the treatment, the implication being that Trump had put himself at more risk from a heart attack than from the virus itself.

See also this response by many doctors to the shoddy work by The Lancet: Scientists, MDs Rip Anti-Chloroquine Study Published In The Lancet.

Moral? Let practicing doctors make their own decisions.

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 ~ HOSPICE PATIENTS ALLIANCE ~

[Note: Due to the politicization of medical treatment decisions regarding COVID 19 and the obvious push for more expensive remedies that will benefit big Pharma, I asked Dr Grenzer to give the public a cardiologist’s perspective on the medication, Hydroxychloroquine with Azithromycin as a treatment for COVID 19. Some have raised concerns that Hydroxychloroquine might be “unsafe” as a treatment.

Although every medication may have adverse effects, and a physician must consider these when prescribing any of them, it is very strange that there is suddenly such a concern about Hydroxychloroquine since it has been used safely for many decades and the World Health Organization has listed it as a safe medication and one of the “essential” medications to be on hand around the world.

Yes, there can be adverse effects, but according to the physicians who use it regularly, these are quite rare. Think about this: millions and millions of people in areas of the world that are affected by malaria take hydroxychloroquine regularly, and they’ve been taking it for decades. Nobody in the media and nobody at the FDA, CDC, or the W.H.O. ever said one word against it for decades! Think about it!

Here is Dr Grenzer’s perspective on the controversy. – Ron Panzer, Pres., Hospice Patients Alliance]

Hydroxychloroquine: A Cardiologist’s View

by Louis E Grenzer, MD
Board Certified Cardiologist

May 16, 2020

  1. Hydroxychloroquine has been around for 90 years and as is true with all drugs has some potential side effects.
  2. Hydroxychloroquine’s possible effects on the QT interval is not a major issue.
  3. Azithromycin is one of the most frequently prescribed antibiotics. That drug is known to potentially prolong the QT interval which can be related to heart arrhythmias. So one should probably check an EKG to make sure the QT interval is not a problem. That said, I do not recall ever having to stop or avoid either drug for that reason.
  4. There is good suggestive evidence that hydroxychloroquine will prove to be useful for Covid 19, especially when used early in the disease.
  5. Doctors who treat a lot of Covid 19 patients note that patients very commonly quickly recover, with cure of the fever in just a few days, and I believe when the results of larger studies are available, the studies will be favorable — particularly when the drugs are given earlier in the course of the disease.
  6. As the side effects are not a big problem and the drug has been used for 90 years, I think the main issue is, “Does it work?”
  7. We always like to see a controlled double-blinded study in a large number of patients, to prove the safety and efficacy of a drug. Doctors — who treat large numbers of patients — treat many diseases without that type of scientific evidence and do so before getting studies that “absolutely” prove how effective a drug is and do so without being challenged by politicians.
  8. These are the type of decisions that we physicians make all the time.
  9. Some Doctors, who are relied upon as so called “experts,” often have not actually treated any patients in years. They may be afraid to suggest using a drug prior to having multiple large studies, and are sometimes less reliable in making such decisions.
  10. It is apparent to me that the fake news and politicians are preventing physicians from using their professional judgment in relationship to this issue.
  11. Doctors have been threatened with sanctions and even with the loss of their license by politicians, and the news media is promoting such threats.
  12. So, I think that the media and politicians should keep their opinions on such issues to themselves.
  13. I attended a lecture today by a very knowledgeable cardiac arrhythmia specialist on the topic of long QT interval where neither of the above two medications was mentioned. He did not have them on his list of drugs to worry about. The development of a prolonged QT interval needs to be looked for, and it then becomes an issue for the physician to determine what to do. Doctors who treat patients make such judgments every day, and they consider the risk vs the benefit of their treatment plans.
  14. My comments about news media, politicians, and so called experts applies to multiple other issues related to the covid 19 virus situation.
  15. Yes, I am stating that we are being lied to for political reasons that should play NO role in such decisions!
  16. In addition, conflicts of interest frequently explain such inappropriate advice.
  17. If someone has a financial interest in a different medication, that person should not be relied upon to give advice, and certainly he should reveal that conflict.
  18. As a physician, I find it upsetting that politicians and the media try to influence physicians in how to treat our patients. THIS IS WRONG.               

 — Louis E. Grenzer, M.D

Original article

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Hydroxychloroquine rated ‘most effective’ coronavirus treatment, poll of doctors finds

Of the 2,171 physicians surveyed, 37 percent rated hydroxychloroquine the “most effective therapy” for combating the potentially deadly illness, according to the results released Thursday.

The survey, conducted by the global health care polling company Sermo, also found that 23 percent of medical professionals had prescribed the drug in the US — far less than other countries.

“Outside the US, hydroxychloroquine was equally used for diagnosed patients with mild to severe symptoms whereas in the US it was most commonly used for high risk diagnosed patients,” the survey found.

The medicine was most widely used in Spain, where 72 percent of physicians said they had prescribed it.

During the survey, a total of 6,227 physicians were questioned in 30 countries about at least 15 treatments used for COVID-19.

Of the 2,171 doctors asked which drug is most effective, 37 percent said hydroxychloroquine. By contrast, 32 percent answered “nothing.”

A debate about hydroxychloroquine was sparked two weeks ago after President Trump touted the drug as a possible “game-changer” in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting critics to accuse him of peddling unproven, untested remedies.

To date, “there is no evidence” that any medicine “can prevent or cure the disease,” according to the World Health Organization.

But Sermo CEO Peter Kirk called the polling results a “treasure trove of global insights for policymakers.”

CONTINUE READING HERE

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