Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Lancet Retracts Study on Safety of Malaria Drugs for Coronavirus

Associated Press

   Several authors of a large study that raised safety concerns about
   malaria drugs for coronavirus patients have retracted the report,
   saying independent reviewers were not able to verify information that's
   been widely questioned by other scientists.

   Thursday's retraction in the journal Lancet involved a May 22 report on
   hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, drugs long used for preventing or
   treating malaria but whose safety and effectiveness for COVID-19 are
   unknown.

   The study leaders also retracted an earlierreport thatusedthe same
   company's database on blood pressure drugs published by the New England
   Journal of Medicine. That study suggested that widely used blood
   pressure medicines were safe for coronavirus patients, a conclusion
   some other studies and heart doctor groups also have reached.

   Even though the Lancet report was not a rigorous test, the
   observational study had huge impact because of its size, reportedly
   involving more than 96,000 patients and 671 hospitals on six
   continents.

.