Hydroxychloroquine Reduces COVID-19 Mortality, Study Finds

People who took hydroxychloroquine in combination with another drug while hospitalized with COVID-19 were less likely to die than those who didn't, according to a new study.

Patients received hydroxychloroquine alone or with azithromycin, an antibiotic.

Twenty-eight days following the diagnosis of COVID-19, 59 people treated with hydroxychloroquine had died.

Researchers found patients who received hydroxychloroquine were more likely to survive even after adjusting for age and other factors.

"Our study suggests that, despite the controversy surrounding its use, treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin remains a viable option," Dr. Gert Meeus, a nephrologist with AZ Groeninge Hospital, and other researchers wrote.

The research adds to a mixed dataset on hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19.

Some other studies have found that hydroxychloroquine recipients were less likely to die, including a study that analyzed records from a health system in Michigan.

Others have found little or no evidence that hydroxychloroquine affects COVID-19, including a U.S.-government funded study across 34 hospitals.

Hydroxychloroquine is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration but the agency has warned since mid-2020 against using it for COVID-19.

Belgian regulators rescinded authorization for hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 in June 2020.

Hydroxychloroquine proponents say that the amount of the drug, and when it's given, is key to properly studying how it affects COVID-19.

In the clinical trials that found no benefit, patients received four times as much hydroxychloroquine.