Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Monday, May 25, 2020

Murderous Idiocy

Derek Lowe in his Science Magazine blog asks the obvious question. Why the hell are we still conducting trials of hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 and why are doctors giving it to people. The verdict is in. It doesn't work. On the contrary, it kills people. He discusses this paper in The Lancet which is a retrospective observational study -- yes, yes, not a randomized controlled trial but quite compelling:

[W]hen compared with mortality in the control group [i.e., people hospitalized with Covid-19 who did not receive HCQ] (9·3%), hydroxychloroquine (18·0%; hazard ratio 1·335, 95% CI 1·223–1·457), hydroxychloroquine with a macrolide (23·8%; 1·447, 1·368–1·531), chloroquine (16·4%; 1·365, 1·218–1·531), and chloroquine with a macrolide (22·2%; 1·368, 1·273–1·469) were each independently associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality.
They controlled for age, sex, race or ethnicity, body-mass index, underlying cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, diabetes, underlying lung disease, smoking, immunosuppressed condition, and baseline disease severity, meaning they largely eliminated the problem of confounding by indication. And mortality for patients given the drug nearly doubled. It literally killed 9% of the people who took it. And there are plenty of other studies that show no benefit and definite harm.

So why did the federal government buy up mass quantities of this drug, give it to veterans, and push it on public health authorities? And why were so many patients in the Lancet sample given the drug in the first place, in spite of lack of any evidence for its effectiveness? We all know the answer: it's because a fat orange man with an absurd bouffant hairdo claimed repeatedly that it was a miracle drug and even claimed to be taking it himself. The evidence for this, he claimed, was unspecified people who had called him on the phone.

So two questions. Why on earth does anyone listen to this fool? And who is responsible for all those people who were fatally poisoned by this snake oil?

Also, too, said orange fat man is a dex addict and a pervert. (Okay, allegedly.)


2 comments:

Don Quixote said...

In order for there to be a cult leader, there have to be people susceptible to being cult followers. Obviously, these will not be critically thinking people.

I cannot think of a more despicable, twisted, horrible individual than Shitler.

Healthy people are honest, loving, emotionally healthy. They appreciate and are helpful toward other adults, kids, animals, are open-minded, don't shroud their finances and deeds in secrecy, don't demean others, don't prey on others.

Shitler would rather be horrible, ignorant, repulsive, and toxic--and be famous--than slither into the unknown recesses of history by retreating to his proper place under a slimy rock.

Don Quixote said...

Well, Shitler is not ALLEGEDLY a pervert. He's perverted justice, social mores, his office, and he's promulgated disgusting views of women.

His manner, practices, tactics, lack of intellect, insane language, indolence, and hair are perversions of decency and normality.

He's a TWIT who tweets. A disgusting, putrid vulgarian.

Fuck him and all who support him, including his various "wives" and ex-wives and grown children. The rotten fruit of a rotten tree.