In March 2020, with the country frightened and hunting for any good news, the president handed it some from the podium and his phone. Hydroxychloroquine, an old antimalarial drug, was "one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine," he posted. [1] It was a stunning thing to promise a nation in a panic. Twelve weeks later, the government's own drug regulator took the promise apart.

What the trials found

The claim was testable, and it got tested. As the controlled trials came in, hydroxychloroquine did not do what the hype said: it did not help COVID patients recover faster, and it did not cut their risk of dying. [2] On June 15, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization it had granted the drug, concluding it was "unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19" and that its benefits no longer outweighed its risks. [2] The agency that would have welcomed a cure as much as anyone looked at the data and pulled the drug.

The cost of the hype

A wrong promise about a medicine is not harmless. Hydroxychloroquine is not candy; it carries real risks, including serious heart-rhythm problems, which is part of why the FDA acted. [2] The promotion sent people hunting for a drug that did not work, strained the supply for the patients who take it for lupus and arthritis, and turned a medical question into a loyalty test. None of that cured anyone. The honest version was available the whole time, and it was less thrilling: we did not have a miracle yet, and pretending we did cost more than it ever helped.

THE BOTTOM LINE

  • "One of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine": False [1]
  • Trials found no benefit for COVID patients [2]
  • The FDA revoked the drug's emergency authorization on June 15, 2020 [2]

Wanting a cure is human, and in the spring of 2020 everyone wanted one. What a leader owes a frightened country is not the most hopeful thing he can say; it is the truest thing he knows. The game changer did not change the game. The people who needed the straight story were handed a sales pitch instead.