Hydroxycholoroquine *may* save half the people who were going to die of Covid

 Good news on the HCQ front

The Henry Ford HCQ study is by no means decisive, but with death rates seemingly halved (sorta, maybe, kinda) — it does show how crazy it is to ban hydroxychloroquine. It also shows it’s low risk, and with all the conflicting studies out there, that there are a lot of ways to stuff things up.

With 10 million cases around the world it seems a bit incongruous that it’s taken so many months to get a trial this basic done with 2,000 patients. When the world only had 10,000 patients in January we already knew that the three drugs that were “fairly effective” were  Remdesivir, Chloroquine and Ritonavir. As far back as February 13, the South Koreans were already recommending hydroxychloroquine and telling us the anti-virals should be “started as soon as possible.” They warned that after ten days, doctors “do not have to start antivirals”. South Korea was the experiment that worked — but we ignored it.

Speaking of slow research, the UK hydroxychloroquine trial that was stopped has restarted again as of three days ago.  This is a trial to see if HCQ can prevent coronavirus in 40,000 healthcare workers.

Perhaps half were saved?

Of those enrolled in the trial, 87% of the people who got hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) survived. This was a lot better than the survival rate of those with neither HCQ nor Azithromycin which was 74%.  Possibly half of those who died in the latter group might have been saved had they got HCQ. But, the study was not  randomized, so we really don’t  know.

Consider that those who got both HCQ and Azithromycin had a lower survival rate (80%) than for HCQ alone. This could be because of some extra risk with azithromycin, some bad interaction with both drugs in combination, or most likely, it was because the doctors gave both drugs to the sickest patients. Indeed, a lot more of the dual treatment patients spent time in the ICU (37%) compared to those in the “neither med” group (15%) and  those treated with HCQ alone (20%). This is the problem with a non-randomized study. We don’t know if the doctors choice of who-to-treat skewed the results. It’s possible the combination of both could have been the best of all.

In comparison, in a randomized trial of the $3,000 remdesivir drug, there was a mortality rate of 8.0%  (treated) versus 11.6% (untreated). Grein et al., 2020. So the HCQ was used on sicker patients with a higher mortality rate, but loosely seemed to have more effect. Given the bargain price of HCQ, long history, mass supplies, and known potential against SARS-1, we wonder why it hasn’t had a proper randomized trial too.

Finally some good coronavirus news for the Trump team. This result will help encourage people to sign up to trials and give doctors back some confidence to use it.

No heart related side effects

One thing it does show is that there were no heart-related side effects, which means it can be low risk and low cost, if done properly. Doctors already know how to screen people who are at risk, which is hardly a surprise given that doctors write 5 million prescriptions for this each year in the US and have done for decades. So let’s get cracking and use it.

Indeed, this shifts the ethical battle — is it fair not to treat patients?

Steroids muddy the resultThe trial involved 2,541 people, but followed them through March and April as doctors treated each person according to their best estimate of what that patient needed. People were given HCQ very quickly once they were hospitalized. But 4 out of 5 were given steroids too, and we know that hydroxycortisone is helpful on its own. Of those on HCQ — twice as many people, 80%,  were also given a steroid compared with 36% in the “neither study drug category”. This is a mess of factors.

Anther factor is that some people were still in hospital and not recovered (and not dead either) and these were just left out. That may end up skewing the results, but presumably the numbers were already large enough, and the clock is ticking… Sigh.

Unless I’m reading it wrongly, the average age of people given some combination of drug was 63, but those given neither were slightly older — 68. The median age of HCQ use alone was 53, while it was 71 for the untreated group. Presumably more of the older patients were at risk of HCQ side effects with long QT intervals. But some of the HCQ benefit might just be due to the age of the patients. The team did “propensity score matching” which presumably matches patients for common risk factors and compares the outcome and then used that to calculate a 51% mortality Hazard reduction rate. Nice.

In our study, overall mortality was 18.1% and in ICU patients 45%. Our cohort included patients with severe disease, with 24% and 18% requiring ICU care and mechanical ventilation at presentation, respectively.

There was no mention of zinc at all in the paper. Perhaps the drug was more effective in people who were not zinc deficient but we’ll have to wait for another study. Could be months.

The bottom line is that HCQ probably is useful, if started early, especially with a steroid.

REFERENCE

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)30534-8/fulltext

PDF

h/t Skeptical Sam, Orson, Ian B

8.5 out of 10 based on 70 ratings

116 comments to Hydroxycholoroquine *may* save half the people who were going to die of Covid

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    It was/is all about getting President Trump.

    The moralising elites lied to us all about the facemasks*, and hcq failure is another lie.

    They will/have failed miserably.

    Another four more years.

    Meanwhile … Ancient drug shows promise against severe COVID-19 in early trial

    “The medication, called colchicine, is an anti-inflammatory taken as a pill.
    It’s long been prescribed for gout, a form of arthritis, and its history goes back centuries.”

    https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/06/24/Ancient-drug-shows-promise-against-severe-COVID-19-in-early-trial/6871593017348/

    – (it’s not patented, and nobody can get Trump or get rich from it)

    * Fauci In March: Masks Make You ‘Feel A Little Bit Better,’ But Unnecessary For General Population, Warns Of ‘Unintended Consequences’
    “While masks may block some droplets, Fauci said, they do not provide the level of protection people think they do,” CBS News reported at the time.

    Since the interview, Dr. Fauci has changed his tune on mask directives, encouraging folks to wear them when they cannot social distance. ”

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-fauci-in-march-masks-make-you-feel-a-little-bit-better-but-unnecessary-for-general-population-warns-of-unintended-consequences

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    • #
      Jojodogfacedboy

      Nobody in governments have a clue what to do and muddling around watching what each other does to copy them.

      191

      • #
        PeterS

        Almost true. A few do know what they are doing as they go about to perform a reset to our economy so they can instigate their draconian socialist agenda. Hopefully enough people wake up in time to realise that and take appropriate action to defend our way of life, “warts and all”.

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        • #

          It was about getting Trump, but there are billions of other reasons to ignore a cheap safe drug too. Ask Gilead shareholders. (Not to mention shareholders of the 100 other corporations that have already put hundreds of millions of dollars into vaccine research. )

          If the virus is treatable with a cheap unpatentable drug, there go those profits.

          If most Western nations had conquered the virus like Australia, NZ, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Pacific Islands, Iceland, etc the urgency for the vaccine is reduced a lot.

          290

          • #
            Jojodogfacedboy

            You missed adding that they are doing this with billions of dollars in borrowed money. Our PM in Canada is all in on giving billions and billions to any cause worldwide. Also over 100 companies receiving funds to find a cure too.
            The Popcorn moments will be when the Provinces and Mayors start to realize that PM Trudeau is not giving them anymore funding as they too are spending like before this Pandemic. What is currently being given will only cover 20% of the massive new costs with the PPEs and new regulations enforcements.

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        • #
          proeng

          Deputy Chief Medical Officer Vic. Dr Van Diemen is a socialist in a socialist government and considering her knowledge of history is clearly incompetent in everything as is all the Vic. government and their top appointed public servants. However, where is the opposition and will they get rid of the top public servants (including judges of the supreme court, the police commissioner and the Chief of fire service) if they can get elected.

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          • #
            Sceptical Sam

            where is the opposition

            Interesting point.

            Their ABC is certainly not giving the Liberals any coverage. It spends its time criticizing the NSW Premier and making snide comments about the Prime Minister.

            Dangerous Dan Andrews is keeping low and letting his foot-soldiers do the talking. The green demon and her boss are both incompetent. They’re a good example of what happens when the Public Service becomes politicised.

            10

      • #
        TedM

        Copying other Drs. Methinks that more need to copy Dr Zelenko.

        141

    • #
      TedM

      Yes these Chief Medical Officers or their equivalent, who seem to regularly change there recommendations, make me doubt that they have done their background work before telling the populous what to do.

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    • #

      Yes. The anecdotal evidence was very strong for HCQ very early on. Clearly, Trump was paying attention and made the right judgement call to push it ASAP. Too bad the progressive socialists and their lackey MSM hate Trump so much, they would rather see people die from the China Virus then give Trump the credit he was due.

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    • #
      Orson

      See here for a summary of some 53 relevant studies, not at all of equivalent quality.
      https://c19study.com/

      30

  • #
    TedM

    And what would the figures look like if they had included zinc. It would be interesting to know the blood zinc levels of those who survived and those who did not. Bit hard to take the levels of the latter group now of course.

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    • #
      ivan

      It would also be interesting to know the HCQ dosage – were they using the standard dose or a larger one that might kill people.

      71

      • #

        And the Vitamin D levels.

        Ivan, the dose:

        Hydroxychloroquine was dosed as 400 mg twice daily for 2 doses on day 1, followed by 200 mg twice daily on days 2-5. Azithromycin was dosed as 500 mg once daily on day 1 followed by 250 mg once daily for the next 4 days. The combination of hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin was reserved for selected patients with severe COVID-19 and with minimal cardiac risk factors.

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        • #
          ivan

          Jo, that HCQ dose of 400 mg twice a day is getting into danger region (400 mg per day is considered the maximum here in France). Also note they forgot to use zinc sulphate with it which appears to be essential.

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          • #
            David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

            Close, but not exceeding. And for just the first day.

            30

          • #
            DOC

            It’s all about drug distribution throughout the body initially, including dilution from redistribution to tissues, binding up receptors that are not the targets so the plasma levels reach therapeutic levels quickly. The dose then covers the elimination rate via metabolism, liver and kidneys so the therapeutic range is achieved at the site of action.

            20

        • #
          Orson

          And the same folks have a prophylactic study of HCQ in preparation. If people want or need to travel, this is the important one to follow up on.

          30

  • #
    James Poulos

    I agree Travis, Get Trump, get rid of cheap effective medication that vindicates Trump.

    Secure patent for ineffective alternative medication, increase sale price x 30,000%, produce flawed peer reviews for effective medication.

    501

  • #
    Don B

    This trial of HCQ+ was to have started May 1, 2020.

    “A computer-based software will randomise participants 1:1:1 to either receive; hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and zinc and standard medical care; favipiravir and standard medical care or standard medical care alone.

     “https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04373733

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    • #
      Don B

      As a reminder, New York’s Dr. Zelenko was using this treatment protocol because of success in China, South Korea and France, prior to President Trump’s March 19 mention of HCQ.

      My out-patient treatment regimen is as follows: 

      1.  Hydroxychloroquine 200mg twice a day for 5 days
      2.  Azithromycin 500mg once a day for 5 days
      3.  Zinc sulfate 220mg once a day for 5 days

       The rationale for my treatment plan is as follows. I combined the data available from China and South Korea with the recent study published from France (sites available on request). We know that hydroxychloroquine helps Zinc enter the cell. We know that Zinc slows viral replication within the cell. Regarding the use of azithromycin, I postulate it prevents secondary bacterial infections. These three drugs are well known and usually well tolerated, hence the risk to the patient is low. 

      Since last Thursday, my team has treated approximately 350 patients in Kiryas Joel and another 150 patients in other areas of New York with the above regimen.

       Of this group and the information provided to me by affiliated medical teams, we have had ZERO deaths, ZERO hospitalizations, and ZERO intubations. In addition, I have not heard of any negative side effects other than approximately 10% of patients with temporary nausea and diarrhea.

      https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SesxgaPnpT6OfCYuaFSwXzDK4cDKMbivoALprcVFj48/mobilebasic

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      • #
        Conan Kirton

        Thanks for this, do you have any observations on these topics which seem to yield remarkable recoveries?
        As lay person it seems these are not being widely adopted
        Melatonin
        https://devinenews.com/50-covid-patients-recover-under-dr-neels-care/
        Dr. Neel commented in an interview that he has now treated around 50 COVID patients to-date, and they all responded to treatment very quickly, showing significant improvement within 24 hours.
        “Everyone that I treated has started feeling better within 24 hours, and none wound up in the hospital or even needing to seek further treatment after taking the recommended dosages.
        ————
        Ivermectin
        http://www.pharmafile.com/news/550818/us-trial-ivermectin-cuts-coronavirus-mortality-40
        A US clinical trial of the drug ivermectin found that it reduced the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients by 40%.
        ———
        Low-Dose Whole-Lung Radiation for COVID-19 Pneumonia
        https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.03.20116988v1
        Results: Of nine patients screened, five were treated with whole-lung radiation from April 23-28, 2020 and followed for 7 days. Median age was 90 (range 64-94); four were nursing home residents with multiple comorbidities. Within 24 hours of radiation, three patients (60%) weaned from supplemental oxygen to ambient air, four (80%) exhibited radiographic improvement, and median Glasgow coma score improved from 10 to 14. A fourth patient (80% overall recovery) weaned from oxygen at hour 96. Mean time to clinical recovery was 35 hours. There were no acute skin, pulmonary, GI, GU toxicities. Conclusions: In a pilot trial of five oxygen-dependent patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, low-dose whole-lung radiation led to rapid improvement in clinical status, encephalopathy, and radiographic infiltrates without acute toxicity. Low-dose whole-lung radiation is safe, shows early promise of efficacy, and warrants further study in larger prospective trials. NCT04366791

        10

    • #
      David Maddison

      The web site for that clinical trial was updated June 25, 2020 and the status was marked as “recruiting”. I’m not holding my breath…

      43

  • #

    While there is uncertainty over drug treatments, there is no uncertainty over lockdowns – they don’t work. Just ask Victorians.

    173

    • #
      TedM

      Victorians who don’t comply?

      94

    • #
      TedM

      A bit like saying that staying out of the rain doesn’t keep you dry David.

      44

    • #
      robert rosicka

      David quarantines do work , just not when run by incompetent socialist village idiots ?

      263

      • #
        RickWill

        Why would any Labor Premier ask for the military when they can curry favour with their union bosses by providing literally countless jobs for UWU members.

        Think of the overtime now being paid to the busloads of police guarding the public housing high-rise. Dan will be seeking more financial help from the Federal Government to keep all these people fully employed plus covering the living costs of those actually locked up in their homes.
        https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EcECKJ2U0AEatoV?format=jpg&name=small

        The genie is out in Victoria and Dan is struggling. He did make a clever move by instigating a judicial enquiry into the hotel quarantine mess. That prevents the opposition from making comments on a matter now before the courts. Without that protection, the opposition could be decimating Dan’s prospects of getting another term.

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        • #
          Serp

          Dan must be canvassing options for a post political career; I still think he’ll resign before August. All of us are by now familiar with the countdown process that leads to a political demise and Dan’s political lifeblood is leaking away fast from several mortal wounds of which the atrocious mismanagement of covid19 is simply the most recent.

          151

      • #
        Komrade Kuma

        Who employ an out of state ‘security’ outfit, not on the STate’s short list of preferred go to outfits but who pitch themselves as the largest ‘indigenous owned’ security firm in the country. In other words it was about forelock tugging to ‘racial inclusiveness’ rather than simple competence to do a serious job. Frigging insane and utterly corrupt.

        70

    • #
      PeterS

      There is some benefit of having lockdowws. They allow more time for people to be be taught how to deal with the pandemic and so be in a better position to defend themselves when the lockdowns are eventually relaxed. Anyone who believes lockdowns are a means to eliminate the virus completely so that when the lockdowns are removed we can get back to “normal” is dreaming. Those who don’t bother to be prepared for the eventual relaxation of the lockdowns risk being infected as much as when the virus first entered the country unless they have become immune. The more people who take the necessary precautions to avoid being infected the slower the spread after the lockdowns are removed. There will always be some who won’t bother to take the necessary precautions, and some who do but become lazy and go back to their old ways, such as not washing hands when they are supposed to do so. Hence until we have a vaccine or the virus mutates itself out of existence, the virus will be with us indefinitely and create havoc.

      82

      • #
        Bill In Oz

        Hi Peter,
        I know this from lived experience : Lock downs work when implemented properly.
        No community transmission in SA since early May..
        And the lockdown in SA now relaxed with even pubs and gyms now open.
        But the one done by the Labor party next door in Victoria ,
        Has been a flop.
        Why ? Mostly due to cheap skate and incompetent quarantine management of traveler arrivals from overseas
        With no compulsory testing of all those arrivals…
        What were they thinking ?
        Or maybe Not thinking.
        Also a great additional unnecessary burden on regional Victorians where the lockdown has worked.

        68

        • #
          OriginalSteve

          Well that and running double standards whereby conservative law abiding people are told to stay indoors but letting feral leftists protester run amok and spread the virus.

          They need to arrest the protest leaders and the State officials who didnt enforce the rules….and that’s just the start….

          70

    • #
      ivan

      Lockdowns should work when people live in separated housing. They DO NOT work in packed tower blocks. Packed tower blocks will act as incubators with their common facilities recycled air etc.

      151

      • #
        Sceptical Sam

        Are those Carlton public housing flats air-conditioned?

        20

      • #
        Russ Wood

        Add to 5.5
        -Or, as in South Africa, in packed squatter camps. And, as we had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, coming partially off it (so that people can get back to working and eating) has dropped SA into the peak as winter gets started. So, we wrecked about 20% of the country’s economy, and we STILL are unable to handle the peak. Oh yes – and no-one can legally buy cigarettes, buy booze between Friday and Sunday, or have a drink at a sit-down (socially distanced) restaurant. Lots of people asking just WHAT the lockdown was for?

        10

    • #
      el gordo

      There are a lot of illegal immigrants who cannot risk being tested, but they don’t say that.

      ‘The health minister on Friday said she was disappointed that 10,000 people in the last eight days had refused testing.

      “That might be for a range of reasons, including that they may have already been tested in a different location,” she said.

      “We are analysing that data to see exactly why people are refusing but it is concerning that some people believe that coronavirus is a conspiracy or that it won’t impact on them.”

      SBS

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      • #
        David Maddison

        Very good point el gordo. When you get tested you have to show your Medicare (government health care) card. Most illegals wouldn’t have these although they do get shared around along with false ID’s. Or it could be that the natural paranoid state of being illegal means you don’t want any interaction whatsoever with government or their officials lest you get found out.

        103

        • #
          el gordo

          Hopefully the police won’t have to drag them out, as seen in China, it would make world headlines.

          61

  • #
    TedM

    Just fo/llowed the link. It is HCQ +Zn+ Azithromycin vs standard medical care. Dr Zelenko’s prescription.

    Sorry Don but your comma after the hydroxychloroquine mislead me.

    Just hoping that the algorithim that they use in the computer analysis doesn’t leave lots of room for tweaking and weighting, al la climate science. (Confirmation bias)

    52

    • #
      TedM

      Correction: HCQ+Zn+ Azithromycin and standard clinical care vs favipar and standard clinical care.

      Sorry oldtimers disease.

      22

  • #
    William Astley

    Jo,

    The above summary appears to not agree with study. There were more than 2000 patients treated, in six different Michigan hospitals. The study results could not be faked and it is a fact that front line doctors follow procedures exactly or risk lawsuits.

    HCQ reduced the death patient death rate by 66% and HCQ in combination with, azithromycin reduced the patient death rate by 71%, compared to neither treatment which is the current treatment for Covid (p < 0.001).

    I do understand why people are asking for more 'testing' before taking action. Why is the BBC and CNN not report a treatment option that reduces the covid death rate by 71%?

    The patients treated with HCQ and also had less permanent damage.

    500,000 people have died, that number could have been reduced by 70% if the were all treated with HCQ and azithromycin

    Logically, if money and politics was not driving the show…. From now on, every patient should be treated with HCQ and azithromycin.

    Evidence based research has proved, HCQ and azithromycin, reduces the covid death rate by 71% and Logically due to the risks of HCQ use are know and acceptable, particularly, as this use of HCQ is only for the covid fighting period, 5 days, there are no longer term risk to this evidence based treatment for Covid sick patients.

    Hydroxychloroquine provided a 66% hazard ratio reduction, and hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin 71% compared to neither treatment (p < 0.001).

    https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)30534-8/fulltext

    Treatment with Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and Combination in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19

    Results
    Of 2,541 patients, with a median total hospitalization time of 6 days (IQR: 4-10 days), median age was 64 years (IQR:53-76 years), 51% male, 56% African American, with median time to follow-up of 28.5 days (IQR:3-53). Overall in-hospital mortality was 18.1% (95% CI:16.6%-19.7%); by treatment: hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin, 157/783 (20.1% [95% CI: 17.3%-23.0%]), hydroxychloroquine alone, 162/1202 (13.5% [95% CI: 11.6%-15.5%]), azithromycin alone, 33/147 (22.4% [95% CI: 16.0%-30.1%]), and neither drug, 108/409 (26.4% [95% CI: 22.2%-31.0%]).

    [William, sorry for the delay your comment was caught by the spam filter] ED

    60

    • #
      ivan

      William, it appears that there is a missing element in the study you mention – zinc sulphate which appears to be essential to higher recovery rates.

      One would almost think they don’t want Hydroxychloroquine + Azithromycin + zinc to work for some strange reason which appears to connected with not being able to charge exorbitant fees it.

      30

  • #
    Keith Harrison

    Folks may find the following useful:

    https://www.randombio.com/hcq3.html

    21

  • #
    David Maddison

    HCQ is banned as a C-19 treatment because the “science” has been politicised just to prove “orange man bad”.

    Banning a drug just because a US President’s experts suggested it as a possible cure seems to me to be unprecedented.

    In Australia, it is IMPOSSIBLE for a GP (family doctor) to prescribe HCQ for C-19 and they can only do so for existing patients already getting it for other reasons such as lupus. Not even medical specialists can prescribe it for C-19. This will kill people if it hasn’t done so already.

    The original suggestion and clinical experience for HCQ + zinc + Azithromycin come from Dr Zev Zelenko in New York.

    Dr Vladimir (Zev) Zelenko’s specific protocol for HCQ use is stated in his open letter below. THAT specific protocol is what needs to be tested.

    Almost every single clinical trial for HCQ has been deliberately sabotaged by the exclusion of zinc supplementation or inappropriately high doses of HCQ or testing on excessively sick patients for which this treatment is not relevant.

    The whole point of HCQ is to transport zinc into the cell (a zinc ionophore). The zinc kills the virus, HCQ is merely the transport mechanism for the zinc. Older people, the most susceptible, seem to be deficient in zinc regardless of the quality of diet. Presumably they excrete too much hence the need for supplementation.

    HCQ is one of the safest and oldest drugs there is, the US military safely consume 42,000 pills per day in tropical malaria infested regions. The Left is lying when it says it’s a dangerous drug.

    SOME THINGS TO LOOK AT:

    VIDEO: Rudi Guiliani interviews Dr Vladimir Zekenko. https://youtu.be/TFwjY0qe7ro

    OPEN LETTER:
    Here is the original open letter from Dr Zekenko on which Trump’s experts suggested HCQ as a possible treatment.

    Dr. Vladimir (Zev) Zelenko
    Board Certified Family Practitioner
    501 Rt 208, Monroe, NY 10950 845-238-0000
    March 23, 2020

    To all medical professionals around the world:

    My name is Dr. Zev Zelenko and I practice medicine in Monroe, NY. For the last 16 years, I have cared for approximately 75% of the adult population of Kiryas Joel, which is a very close knit community of approximately 35,000 people in which the infection spread rapidly and unchecked prior to the imposition of social distancing.

    As of today my team has tested approximately 200 people from this community for Covid-19, and 65% of the results have been positive. If extrapolated to the entire community, that means more than 20,000 people are infected at the present time. Of this group, I estimate that there are 1500 patients who are in the high-risk category (i.e. >60, immunocompromised, comorbidities, etc).
    Given the urgency of the situation, I developed the following treatment protocol in the pre-hospital setting and have seen only positive results:

    1. Any patient with shortness of breath regardless of age is treated.

    2. Any patient in the high-risk category even with just mild symptoms is treated.

    3. Young, healthy and low risk patients even with symptoms are not treated (unless their circumstances change and they fall into category 1 or 2).

    My out-patient treatment regimen is as follows:

    1. Hydroxychloroquine 200mg twice a day for 5 days

    2. Azithromycin 500mg once a day for 5 days

    3. Zinc sulfate 220mg once a day for 5 days

    The rationale for my treatment plan is as follows. I combined the data available from China and South Korea with the recent study published from France (sites available on request). We know that hydroxychloroquine helps Zinc enter the cell. We know that Zinc slows viral replication within the cell. Regarding the use of azithromycin, I postulate it prevents secondary bacterial infections. These three drugs are well known and usually well tolerated, hence the risk to the patient is low.

    Since last Thursday, my team has treated approximately 350 patients in Kiryas Joel and another 150 patients in other areas of New York with the above regimen.

    Of this group and the information provided to me by affiliated medical teams, we have had ZERO deaths, ZERO hospitalizations, and ZERO intubations. In addition, I have not heard of any negative side effects other than approximately 10% of patients with temporary nausea and diarrhea.

    In sum, my urgent recommendation is to initiate treatment in the outpatient setting as soon as possible in accordance with the above. Based on my direct experience, it prevents acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), prevents the need for hospitalization and saves lives.

    With much respect, Dr. Zev Zelenko

    cc: President Donald J. Trump; Mr. Mark Meadows, Chief of Staff

    ARTICLE (not part of above letter)
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/technology/doctor-zelenko-coronavirus-drugs.html

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    • #
      David Maddison

      In the video I posted above Dr Zelenko says the economy should be opened up.

      It seems to me that -if detected and treated early- according to Zelenko’s protocol it is a relatively minor, highly treatable infection.

      Treatment should be done according to his protocol even on suspicion of the infection because his treatment is cheap and extremely safe even if it turns out later one does not have it.

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      • #
        Peter C

        DR Zelenko was quite specific about his treatment;
        1. It is given early, from the first onset of symptoms, even if the test result is not yet available,
        2. The dose of hydroxychloroquine is not particulary high (1 tablet twice a day for 5 days)
        3. It is given with zinc
        4. Azithromycin is given against secondary infection.

        And it seems to be very effective.

        It is a source of wonderment and speculation why none of the current trials seemed to follow Dr Zelenko’s treatment protocol. It would seem as if they wanted their trials of hydroxychloroquine to fail!
        It many cases the exact treatment protocol is not specified (including the Australian ASCOT trial)
        https://www.ascot-trial.edu.au/blogs/news

        It is not clear whether the ASCOT trial has yet recruited any cases although it was launched in mid April.

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        • #
          David Maddison

          I have looked for any evidence that the ASCOT trial will use zinc but can find none.

          Like most other HCQ trials it is designed to fail.

          Because orange man bad.

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          • #
            Peter C

            It seems you are right David.

            The ASCOT trial protocol is here:
            https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=379542&isReview=true

            They are not using zinc.
            Hydroxychloroquine is given at 4 times higher dose than Dr Zelenko’s recommendation.
            Treatment is started late, up to 12 days post onset of symptoms.
            Patients have to be inpatients (at the start of their treatment), hence they are already quite sick.

            The only similarity to the Dr Zelenko’s protocol is that they use hydroxychloroquine. They are not following the best evidence at all.

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          TedM

          My thoughts precisely Peter. Your comment is a good summary by the way.

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      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      G’day David,
      Great post. Thank you, but I do think an even better result is achieved by including a vitamin D supplement, demonstrated by Dr Ban in California:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7voUXgMCSs&feature=youtu.be
      Cheers
      Dave B

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        David Maddison

        I agree with you David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz. Many or most people are deficient in Vitamin D especially a) due to lockdown b) use of sunscreen and lots of covered skin in summer and other times. Also, darker skin people in the US are more susceptible to C-19. One reason suggested is Vitamin D deficiency. Many elderly are also Vitamin D deficient, a possible contributing factor to their higher susceptibility to C-19. I take Vitamin D and zinc daily.

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          tom0mason

          The dumb thing with vitamin D is that it is extremely difficult to overdose with it.

          The only incident of overdose that I’m aware of happened decades ago when a man was taking a vitamin D supplement that was incorrectly formulated and had many MILLION time the recommend daily amount in it.
          After many months taking this supplement the man was very ill and taken into hospital with tests showing many, many MILLION times the normal vitamin D levels in his blood and consequential calcification of his circulatory system and vital organs taking place.
          After removing the Vit D and getting treatment for the hypercalcemia the man recovered.

          However this has caused medical authorities now warn that overdose of vit D can cause …

          “Dangerously high levels of calcium, hypercalcemia, can follow vitamin D toxicity, which may cause dizziness, confusion, heart arrythmias, bone loss, kidney stones and damaging calcification of the organs.”

          (https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/safe-upper-limit-vitamin-d3-adults-10560.html)

          However the doses in current over the counter products are far too low to be of any significant danger (still I suppose some idiot will try to take kilos of the stuff if not warned!)

          With zinc you can overdose however it tends to be self limiting as diarrhea & vomiting is the usual outcome.

          Oral zinc can cause:

          Indigestion
          Diarrhea
          Headache
          Nausea
          Vomiting
          When oral zinc is taken long term and in high doses it can cause copper deficiency. People with low copper levels might experience neurological issues, such as numbness and weakness in the arms and legs.

          The National Institutes of Health considers 40 mg of zinc a day to be the upper limit dose for adults and 4 mg of zinc a day for infants under age 6 months.

          https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-zinc/art-20366112

          One easy method of knowing if your zinc is low is the taste of the supplements (zinc gluconate or Zinc sulfate ground up in water). When you’re low in zinc the supplements taste water neutral, or even sweet, when you’ve got enough zinc they taste bitter or insipid.
          More at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2405457715001515

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            tom0mason

            —-CORRECTION———

            There have been more cases of vitamin D overdoses than I first believed …

            A literature search was carried out in PubMed for cases reporting vitamin D intoxication and overdose. Thirteen articles were included in this review. Intoxication was severe in the reported cases. Patients presented with serum vitamin D concentrations ranging between 150 and 1220 ng/mL and serum calcium concentrations between 11.1 and 23.1 mg/dL. Most of the reported patients showed symptoms of vitamin D toxicity such as vomiting, dehydration, pain, and loss of appetite. The underlying causes included manufacturing errors, overdosing by patients or prescribers, and combinations of these factors. Our literature search highlights the fact that even though vitamin D intoxication is rare, it does occur and therefore patients and prescribers should be more cognizant of the potential dangers of vitamin D overdose.

            From https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30042334/

            So it is very rare but not unknown.
            I hope this information helps you make more informed decisions.

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            • #
              William Astley

              Your comment makes it appear that there is a danger 4000 UI/day of Vitamin D. That is not correct.

              There is no case in the US of any Vitamin D related problem for daily use of Vitamin D supplements of less than 20,000 UI/day.

              Based on standard toxical analysis, tests were done to see how the body response to a 100,000 UI single dosage of Vitamin D…

              … the maximum tolerable daily dosage of Vitamin D supplement based on 100,000 UI body response and how we treat over chemicals in the body (note this a chemical the body makes, so it is not a foreign chemical) should by 10,000 UI/day.

              For some unknown reason, just to help us out, the lower tolerable limit for Vitamin D was set at 4000 UI/day.

              Vitamin D is a proto hormone that turns on genes that add functionality to our cells. We different at a microbiological level (our body functions differently) when we are Vitamin D normal.

              Those how are Vitamin D deficient blood serum Vitamin D level (25(OH)D) less than 20 ng/ml are 19 times more likely to die from Covid than those who are Vitamin D normal, 25(0H)D levels great than 30 ng/ml.

              4000 UI/day per person is required to get the US population above 30 ng/ml.

              https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3585561

              Patterns of COVID-19 Mortality and Vitamin D: An Indonesian Study

              Vitamin D Insufficient Patients 12.55 times more likely to die

              Vitamin D Deficient Patients 19.12 times more likely to die

              82% of the US ‘black’ population, 68% of the US Hispanic population, and 42% of the US general population are Vitamin D deficient (same definition for deficient and normal.)

              Prevalence and correlates of vitamin D deficiency in US adults.

              https://tahomaclinic.com/Private/Articles4/WellMan/Forrest%202011%20-%20Prevalence%20and%20correlates%20of%20vitamin%20D%20deficiency%20in%20US%20adults.pdf

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              • #
                tom0mason

                Thanks William Astley,

                That looks strange to me as well (decimal point problem in the article? 40,000iu/day instead of 4,000iu/day?) Or as you imply just overly cautious.

                Published cases of toxicity involving hypercalcemia in which the vitamin D dose and the 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels are known all involve an intake of ≥40,000 IU (1,000 μg) per day

                says wiki at — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D.

                I take anything from 1,000iu(25µg) to ten times that 10,0000iu (250µg) in any day depending on time of the year and how well I feel.
                So far (for the 4 years) zero untoward effects.

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        David Maddison

        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz when I click on your link I get “private video” and can’t view it.

        21

        • #
          David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

          Sorry David, I’d heard that it had been “withdrawn”, but thought it had been reinstated. Will see what I can find as a replacement.
          Cheers
          Dave B

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        • #
          David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

          G’day again David,
          Dr Ban also produces podcasts and his #44, running for 31 minutes, “Covid-19 Treatment: 72 Cases and Summary”, sounds like a reasonable approximation to the video.
          Cheers
          Dave B

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    • #
      tom0mason

      Yes Dave Maddison,

      And Dr. Ban has been using such treatments since the beginning with good results. You can’t see his videos anymore as YouTube has censored him!

      He is still online though with audio versions of his video at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doc-talk-with-dr-ban/id1496649149

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      • #
        David Maddison

        Thanks Tom. Yes, Dr Ban has been banned on YouTube, at least most videos.

        I also couldn’t find him with a Google search so Google is censoring him as well. Not surprised as they are the same company as YouTube.

        Podcasts are available on his website at
        https://www.weightless4life.com/doctalk

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      OriginalSteve

      The other unspoken agenda in the media is that if you read the WEF.CH ( world economic forum ) web site, its clear when you look at the covid19 resoonse section, the *only* solution is a vaccine.

      Why? Well I have a few ideas, it also seems to tie into the apparent push to want to tattoo people so they can track who has had vaccines. But tattoos may have been a “wprst case” situation to get people to accept a softer but no less intrusive idea….

      That said, they are pushing out the planned human tracking “solution” of covi-pass to 15 countries, which is basically “Citizen, your papers please”.

      I guess if you refuse in the name of personal liberty to carry what in effect is an identity card at all times, you wont be allowed to sport or public places etc.

      This IMHO has been the real objective – control.

      https://www.zerohedge.com/political/mass-tracking-covi-pass-immunity-passports-be-rolled-out-15-countries

      “COVI-PASS will determine whether you can go to a restaurant, if you need a medical test, or are due for a talking-to by authorities in a post-COVID world. Consent is voluntary, but enforcement will be compulsory.

      “Through the magic of Internet meme culture, most Millennials will be familiar with the famous opening scene of the 1942 film, “Casablanca,” where two policemen stop a civilian in the “old Moorish section” of Nazi-occupied French Morocco and ask him for his “papers.” The subject is taken away at once after failing to produce the required documents. The cinematic exchange has been used ever since as a popular reference to the ever-encroaching hand of the state, which is now on the verge of attaining a level of control over people’s movements that puts the crude Nazi methods to shame.

      “A British cybersecurity company, in partnership with several tech firms, is rolling out the COVI-PASS in 15 countries across the world; a “digital health passport” that will contain your COVID-19 test history and other “relevant health information.” According to the company website, the passport’s objective is “to safely return to work” and resume “social interactions” by providing authorities with “up-to-date and authenticated health information.”

      These objectives mirror those that Bill Gates has been promoting since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. In an essay written by Gates in April, the software geek-cum-philanthropist lays out his support for the draconian measures taken in response to the virus and, like an old-timey mob boss, suggests the solutions to this deliberately imposed problem.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Funny! But also true!

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    • #
      RickWill

      There are some clear parallels between current government action in Victoria with what was occurring in Wuhan 6 months ago.
      https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/high-rise-lockdown-police-patrol-nine-housing-towe/4050211/

      HOW THE LOCKDOWN WILL WORK

      There will be no reason for any residents of these nine public housing towers to leave their home for a period of at least five days, effective immediately (4pm Saturday, July 4).
      The towers will be cordoned off and at least 500 police officers will work at the public housing towers per shift.
      Every single resident, other than those who have already tested positive, will be tested for COVID-19.
      Specific arrangements will be made for tower residents requiring medical care, food and supplies.

      I really like the wording of the last point; implies that only a few will ‘require’ food and supplies over the next 5 days or more (if some refuse a CV19 test). Similar actions in Wuhan were considered draconian at the time, imposed by a communist regime more concerned with its ‘face’ than public health.

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      • #
        Bill In Oz

        Good informative report Rick. Thanks for posting it.
        It’s a long time since I knew anyone living in these high rise towers in Inner city Melbourne.
        But in the 1980-90’s they were always used to home low income people :
        The unemployed, recently arrived migrants, pensioners, single mums, people on disability pensions etc.
        There are similar Housing Commission high rise tower blocks in Phraran & South Melbourne.
        I wonder if these also have residents who have tested positive to Covid 19 ?

        Something to ponder : Once again the public benefit of high rise towers needs to be questioned.
        A year or so ago we discovered that they were covered with very flammable cladding.
        Now we find out that they are’ hot spots’ for a pandemic infectious disease.

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        • #
          RickWill

          The testing authority is keeping a close eye on all public housing towers. If any gets away it would be the source of rapid spread.

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        The Wuhan folks were allowed out on a rotating basis to purchase groceries. So far it seems that everything will be brought into these towers.

        30

    • #
  • #
    David Maddison

    The fact that the Left are prepared to kill people by banning a drug just because their political opponent (Trump) has experts that say it should be trialled shows how desperate they are.

    The last time the Left killed a lot of people by banning a chemical (as opposed to shooting them outright) with no scientific evidence is when they banned DDT which killed an estimated 50 million people.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      I’ll revise my comments about DDT. That is but one example. The Left kill people all the time because of excessive caution or political hostility to certain drugs or chemicals. An example in Australia is banning vaping (specifically the active chemical, nicotine “juice”) or attempts to ban vaping generally when it is an effective, safe substitute for smoking when smoking does kill people.

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        tom0mason

        No real argument with you Dave but it is interesting to note that the majority of those who have lived, or are living, to extreme old age were either smokers of recent ex-smoker.
        It just goes to show how variable the human condition is and how ‘one man’s (contaminated) meat is another man’s poison’.

        Just throw ‘Smoker lived to very old age’ in the search engine of your choice to see an abundance of evidence.

        [I as a smoker, do NOT condone the act of smoking and continually try a put younger people off the idea of trying or continuing with it. It is a money wasting, unhealthy addiction.]

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  • #
    Gaz

    AS always, follow the money

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  • #
    STJOHNOFGRAFTON

    Not so long ago medical and political authorities would have enthusiasticaly grabbed hold of any treatment that showed promise of a cure. Now they seem to be anal retentive. These days, apparently, we must wait in limbo as only very costly treatments requiring a long wait are in the offing.

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    David Maddison

    To the Leftist who “thumbs down” most comments here, what is your opinion? Or do you need to consult with your handlers before you know what your opinion is?

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    • #
      TdeF

      It’s their attempt at ad hominem attacks on people not what they say. Just ignore the illiterate idi*ts. I get red thumbed even for facts, so at least I have dedicated followers. Of a sort. And you are doing good work, giving them something to do. They get depressed living on kale and quinoa.

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      Bill In Oz

      David I use the red and green thumbs a lot.
      A Green thumb means I mostly agree with a comment.
      A red thumb means I disagree with it
      OR that it is NOT relevant to the post – in other words a distraction.
      There are I think a lot of these type of comments.

      I let a very few go through to the keeper.
      Mostly because I do not know whether to agree of not.
      One of the side effects of this is that I do not have to re-read lots of comments.
      If it shows up as already Green or Red thumbed,
      I don’t read it and go on to the next.

      And now you have the chance to red thumb me for making this comment.
      🙂

      810

  • #
    David Maddison

    The corruption of science by the Left for political reasons continues.

    The way it is meant to be done in the present case is roughly as follows:

    1) Based on prior observations and knowledge Zelenko formulated a reasonable hypotheses that HCW + zinc + azi when used in early stages of C-19 infection might help treat it.

    2) Zekenko’s own clinical trials and observations confirmed the hypothesis.

    3) The hypothesis now needs further testing with more elaborate trials and statistical methods and the efficacy of treatment has to be made by independent observers.

    4) On the basis of (3) it can be decided if the treatment is clinically useful or not.

    Note, that is not a formal statement of the scientific method, just roughly how it works in this case.

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    • #
      DOC

      One of Zelenko’s problems may be, I gather he is a GP, in Australian terms. He could be
      suffering from being regarded ‘an inferior’ relative to the assumed academic superiority of the ‘specialists’. Bit like the attitude against Trump actually. Treading on someone else’s turf
      often doesn’t get well received.

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  • #
    Peter C

    A Study Out of Thin Air

    Misinformation is bad. Misinformation in medicine is worse. Misinformation from a prestigious medical journal is the worst. Herein is a detailed look at the controversial Lancet study that resulted in the World Health Organization ending worldwide clinical trials on hydroxychloroquine in order to focus on patented therapeutics.

    https://www.medicineuncensored.com/a-study-out-of-thin-air

    I have listened to a number of podcasts by James Delingpole over the past week (The Delingpod). James has become a Covid skeptic. He claims he has had Covid and recovered.
    His guest have been Dr John Lee (pathologist), Prof Dolores Cahill (immunologist) and Dr James Todaro (ophthalmologist and bitcoin speculator). All three guests say that Covid is not as serious as it is portrayed and the massive over reaction is far more harmful than the disease. They say it is time to take stock and reverse direction.

    Todaro was interesting about the Lancet article that was retracted. It seems that none of the data could be found. It seems to have been all made up. It is a massive embarrassment for the Lancet. The editor, Dr Richard Houghton claimed that his peer review was sound. He seems to have changed his mind now.
    Why was the Lancet in such a rush to publish this paper without even a cursory check of the credentials of the company (Surgisphere) that was supposed to have suppled the source data?

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  • #
    TdeF

    This is the modern world. People given historically novel equality and freedom by a modern slave free society want to wreck it in an orchestrated attack on free societies around the world to destroy their history, their heroes, their values and their beliefs. So the UN has been infiltrated and the 75% of world governments which are military dictatorships now control the IPCC, WHO and even the Human Rights Commission. Two prominent nominees who never made it were Robert Mugabe and Muhhamar Gadafi. Now we have Tedros Adhomen as head of WHO, appointed by China and someone who denied in January that Wuhan Flu was infectious.

    What is really worrying is that the media are behind it all. If Trump visits Mt Rushmore, CNN reports that it celebrates slavery and theft of Indian land. When Obama visited, CNN reported that it was a National park and National treasure.

    And how many lives have been lost because Trump openly hoped Hydroxychloroquine was a cheap and effective readily available and FDA approved life saver?

    No one in the media cares how many more lives are lost, as long as they can make Trump look bad and blame him somehow for the Chinese pandemic hidden by Tedros Adhomen on behalf of the Chinese government.

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    • #
      TdeF

      The upside is that the man made CO2 driven GLobal Warming is being debunked even by its fiercest supporters. Even medical science has been politicised and infiltrated and full of half truths, misdirection and outright li*s like the Lancet article. And the editor knew it but didn’t expect to be caught.

      My worry is that after 30 years of nonsense and failed predictions, the Greens have simply switched to nuclear and now claim that nuclear has no ’emissions’. It is tragically funny and a sign that the promoters of the fr*ud have even changed the language. CO2 is now a deadly emission and radiation is good for you and Plutonium is your friend.

      It is almost impossible to believe what you read. In Australia, at least Murdoch’s Australian prints both sides of a debate. In America, Breitbart.com is fearless and criticizes Trump while debunking the absurd and very personal attacks on the US President and his family.

      And pretending Joe Biden does not have senile dementia and the Clintons are honest is laughable. The press are only now starting to ask who kill*d Jeffrey Epstein in a jail where the security cameras were shut off in his area.

      I expect Hilary will try to seize the nomination in a coup at the Democratic convention, if there is one. Everyone knows Joe Biden, 78 in November, is incapable of doing the job. He would be the first octagenarian President in US history, eight years older than the previous oldest, Donald Trump at 70. Trump after another 4 years would only be as old as Biden at the start of the job. And the press will not print a word about his problems.

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        el gordo

        Australia also has Sky News, free to air into the regions, this is a quiet revolution. The Outsiders is a terrific show.

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        • #
          TedM

          “The outsiders” I love it el gordo.

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        • #
          Annie

          And, disappointingly, the Outsiders Encore has been pushed back to 2200 tonight, only just found out.

          20

          • #
            DOC

            Making way for Jones. Jones will be under a lot of pressure to perform; 4 nights a
            week. His audience is limited by Foxtel being subscription only. Fortunately, this
            is where WA’s 2hour time difference is a bonus. Now, if they would only bring back
            Ross Cameron….

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        David Maddison

        If the unthinkable happens and Biden gets elected he’ll be immediately removed under the 25th Amendment and replaced with the true intended president such as Killary, Oprah, M. Obama or other horrific choices.

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        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

        G’day again TdeF,
        Some good news: Peta Credlin has published a beaut article in today’s Sunday Telegraph, on page 79, ” Green energy is full of wind “. The following is just one of the paragraphs I like (rekeyed by me, hopefully accurately):
        ” A long time adviser to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Shellenberger helped to craft Barack Obama’s energy policy. Like left wing filmmaker Michael Moore, who is also speaking out about the sham that is renewable energy, Shellenberger is still worried about climate change; it’s just that he’s come to realise that the “extinction rebellion” campaign is a hoax and that so–called renewable energy is doing more harm than good.”
        As I read this in the hard copy, I don’t have a link to give you. Sorry.
        Cheers
        Dave B

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    David Maddison

    I posted a video above which was an interview between Rudy Giuliani and Dr Zev Zelenko. The video is called “Doctor Has 99.3% Survival Rate for COVID-19 Patients Urges America To Continue Reopening | Ep. 49” at https://youtu.be/TFwjY0qe7ro

    I suggest people watch it soon or better yet download it as YouTube is censoring (deleting) any videos that don’t follow the party line that HCQ and Orange Man are bad.

    Here is an interesting comment I saw on the video. His reference to Z-pak is a trade name for azithromycin.

    QUOTE by David Hom

    Not quite, because this is virus is really a two-stage disease. 1st is the viral stage and 2nd is pneumonia stage 1st is when the virus is in the upper respiratory while the 2nd is when the virus migrates to the lungs. HCQ is very effective if given at the 1st stage. Not very effective in the 2nd stage because the virus is not killing you, but your immune system is. At this stage, you need anti-inflammatory drugs. HCQ works as an anti-viral drug. It is not a cure. All it does is reduce the viral load. As for zinc, 40% of the population is deficient in zinc. If you have a diet rich in zinc, this could be optional, but to be safe, take it with HCQ. For example, HCQ and Z-pak is very effective in Marseilles because people there are primarily on a seafood diet, one rich in zinc. Basically, zinc makes HCQ more effective. Why does HCQ work without zinc? It prevents the virus from entering the human cell, but if a virus can’t enter a human cell, it can’t replicate. Zinc can go into the human cells through HCQ in order to stop the production of the RNA. Without zinc, HCQ by itself takes a tad longer.

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    • #
      TdeF

      Great stuff. I had read all this before, but it is amazing if true. And like Trump, why not hope for the best. In six months we have come a long way and I note that deaths are plummeting even when infections are soaring, so we are slowly getting on top of this or at least the medical community has a lot of tools. And earlier is better. The attempts to discredit HCQ are in two camps. Trump haters. People investing billions in cures or at least effective antivirals. Both are pushing disinformation, if not outright l*es like the Lancet editor.

      There are hundreds of billions of dollars, even trillions riding on all this pandemic ending and in many different ways. Consider the value of the world’s aircraft fleet, now largely idle for six months. Maybe a thousand billion dollars parked on the ground, earning nothing. Many never to fly again. Or the tourist industry. 12 million Australians a year who go overseas and spend say $2,000 each. That alone is at least $24Billion in cash and another $24Billion in airfares. All gone. So whoever creates a cure or an innoculation will be rich beyond counting.

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  • #
    Johnno Barrett

    I think a glass of red wine will do the trick. Especially on a Sunday.
    Satu lagi?

    10

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    The cost of the lockdown.

    After our walk yesterday morning, an acquaintance told of a friend working in one of the two week quarantine hotels.

    His friend mentioned the state of mind evident in those doing time.

    Despair, loss of jobs, businesses collapsed, family members unable to see one another.

    He stated that three suicides had occurred in that one facility, not a good omen.

    A newspaper comment from yesterday gave an estimate of 1,000 extra suicides expected next year from the effects of the lockdown.

    Not unexpected: the cure is worse than the original problem.

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    David Maddison

    Apparently at the lockdown areas in Melbourne the Government will be giving methadone to heroin addicts and alcohol to alcoholics.

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    Another Ian

    Stir this into the mix

    “Yale: 28% of US Covid-19 Deaths Being Misdiagnosed”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/07/04/yale-28-of-us-covid-19-deaths-being-misdiagnosed/

    WUWT summation

    “In simpler terms, with all elective surgery cancelled for months, the delays in heart valve surgery, stent surgery, cancer surgery etc., might be the cause of the increase in deaths and they haven’t a clue if that’s the case or not.”

    50

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    Anton

    The Sunday Times (London) today published a major article by its Insight team on the origins of SARS-CoV-2. A teaser on the frontpage says that the closest virus to it in sequence was discovered in a cave in 2013 and wiped out several miners. Online, the article is behind a paywall. I wonder how true it is.

    00

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    jkb

    Since March only two randomised prospective HQ trials have been published, both showing that HQ is efficient, both done in China. Nothing similar has been done in the West: there have been just a few HQ studies desined to fail. There is not a one administrator willing to give money to test an asap application of HQ/zinc/Azithromycine. Does it mean that all universities and hospitals are in Big Pharma or Leftist hands, and not a one is ready to do a study clear of their business of political bias? Terrible.
    3/30 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.22.20040758v1.full.pdf
    6/22 https://m.x-mol.com/paper/1275295466217041920

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    Tony

    These retrospective studies are interesting, but we can’t draw firm conclusions. They help us make hypotheses we can test in randomised controlled trials.

    There are many running and will hopefully report soon. Realistically, if the results were amazing in randomised trials, they would have been halted at this stage and made standard treatment. It seems the opposite is happening, both HCQ and ritonavir/lopinav being discontinued as the interim results come in.

    I would like to note there have been some good results with convalescent antibodies and interferon. These treatments tend to get viral levels negative within a few days for most patients…. and there should be plenty of plasma around at this point. I’m not saying HCQ can’t be combined with these… but honestly, I think because this drug got all the early press and a few small improperly controlled studies got everyone over excited. I suspect this avenue of research has perhaps taken resources that could have been better spent on other possibilities.

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    jkb

    These two studies are prospective – not retrospective. The “gold standard”. The question is why only these two? There was time – at lease for fradulents studies galore. But none for a standard ones like these to.

    10

  • #

    To read and translate:

    Généalogie de la diabolisation de l’hydroxychloroquine

    le 5 juillet 2020

    https://jacqueshenry.wordpress.com/2020/07/05/genealogie-de-la-diabolisation-de-lhydroxychloroquine/

    00

  • #

    Data show the development of herd immunity. Herd immunity (given preventive measures existing a week or two earlier) is the only way that will permanently end the pandemic. It is established either the old fashioned way by getting the disease and recovering, or artificially by vaccination.

    US hospitalizations per week
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dggXGX9KPtbhgSOWQqeJ9Jk9fRANIT3l/view?usp=sharing

    US deaths per week: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AJ-9WxOHlTUFm8T_sOSosoCMDdeVrDaH/view?usp=sharing

    The risk of healthy people younger than 65 dying from covid-19 is less than the risk of dying in a car accident from traveling 30,000 miles.

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    James West

    If that difference in median ages of the HCQ Vs Untreated patients is correct i.e. 53 Vs &1 Y.O., I would have thought that immediately negates any useful inference here. We know that the risk of death escalates dramatically with age.

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    Steve of Cornubia

    It seems the good Dr. Zelenko is paying a high price for supporting a drug touted by Trump. He has been pack-attacked by the media, called among other things, “a hero among fringe Trumpworld figures”.

    And in the usual fashion, the pitchfork-waving New Left Brownshirts quickly deployed their usual weapon of choice – shunning – and the poor guy has been forced out of the medical practice he has worked in for decades. Allegedly, residents accuse him of bringing the community into disrepute, though of course they were careful to hide the real reason (having a Trump supporter in their midst) and instead saying it was because he exaggerated the numbers of Covid-positives in testing.

    Things really are getting out of hand, folks, reminiscent of pre-WWII Germany where anybody who didn’t openly and strongly support the Nazi party was visited by party officials and ‘persuaded’ to think the right thoughts. Of course, the Nazi Brownshirts eventually resorted to violence in the face of resistance, or drove people out of business, but we’re really not far from that once again, as the Left becomes more and more emboldened by weak governments and law officers.

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    Simon Conway-Smith

    It just strikes me as bizarre that Govt bureaucrats think they know better how to treat patients than doctors. I’m sure the lawsuit culture also plays a part. I would gladly sign a waiver to be given the HCQ+ medication should I be struck down with the virus, then let the doctor judge what is best.

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