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Controversial French Doctor Sparks Hope, Criticism for Coronavirus Research

Lisa Bryant

   PARIS - Fellow scientists question his findings, but an unlikely mix of
   supporters -- from French yellow vest protesters to U.S. President
   Donald Trump-- are cheering their promise.

   Last month, French immunology specialist DidierRaoulthad no Twitter
   account. Now, he has more than a quarter-millionfollowers, andcounting.

   The68-year-oldFrench physicianhas emerged as one of France's most
   publicized and polarizing figures of these coronavirus times, since
   claiming his research shows an anti-malarial drug can help fight
   COVID-19.

   Outside the Marseille university hospital where he works,a long lineof
   sick and frightened peoplewaitstobe testedeach day for COVID-19.

   The sick may receive a much-hyped experimental treatment--a mix of
   anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and antibiotic azithromycin that
   have starred in a pair of quick, small-scale studies
   thatRaoultconducted, and were published this month.

   Together, the studies show the "efficacy" of the anti-malarial drug in
   fighting the virus,Raoultand his research team claim, and the
   synergetic effects of adding the antibiotic.

   "He's a visionary," RenaudMuselier, head of the Provence-Alpes-Cote
   d'Azur region and a friend ofRaoult, told the weeklyLe Journal du
   Dimanche."That's what makes his strength today."

   But critics sayRaoult'steam did not follow rigorous procedures, had no
   controlgroup,and drew their results based on too few people, among
   other failings.

   "The methodology is fragile, the results are forced, one doesn't give
   people hope based on approximate trials," Gilles Pialoux, infectious
   diseases head of Paris-based Tenon Hospital, told BFMTV.

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