Hydroxychloroquine, the drug touted to be effective in the treatment of the COVID-19 infection, has been disproved in the largest study done on the effects of the medicine so far.
Originally used in the treatment of malaria and certain autoimmune disorders, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, another antimalarial drug, were being administered to COVID-19 positive patients presenting with moderate to severe symptoms of the infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
However, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 7 May found that patients with COVID-19 being administered hydroxychloroquine did not fare any better - or had the same risk of intubation or death - than those who did not receive the drug.
Read more: Is hydroxychloroquine really effective against COVID-19?
Nearly 1,400 patients were part of this study - considered to be the biggest - to find the effects of the drug on patients suffering from the new coronavirus infection that has affected over 3.8 million people worldwide, and killed nearly 270,000 people. The study, carried out at a large medical facility in New York - the city with the largest number of infections and casualties globally - examined the connection between the use of hydroxychloroquine and respiratory failure among COVID-19 patients.
Out of 1,376 patients included in the study, 811 received the drug while 565 did not. Of the 811 who got hydroxychloroquine, over 45% got the medication within 24 hours of presenting with serious symptoms. Still, 346 patients developed respiratory failure, 180 of them were intubated and 166 died without intubation.
The study arrived at its conclusion after employing established statistical techniques to account for the differences between patients in the two groups, which included their age, sex as well as initial vital signs when they were admitted.
The study concluded by saying that it "should not be taken to rule out either benefit or harm of hydroxychloroquine treatment. However, our findings do not support the use of hydroxychloroquine at present, outside randomized clinical trials testing its efficacy".
Previous studies conducted to determine the effects of hydroxychloroquine did not include more than 100 patients, which meant there was not enough robust evidence to support its use on patients diagnosed with COVID-19, a respiratory infection with pneumonia-like symptoms.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on 21 March had released an advisory on the prophylactic use of hydroxychloroquine by healthcare workers or people who came in direct contact with COVID-19 patients. The United States Food and Drug Administration Department (FDA) had in March allowed the use of the drug to treat COVID-19 patients as well, with US President Donald Trump even calling it a game-changer. India, the largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, had ramped up production of the drug for its supply to countries all over the world.