I am sipping on my coffee this morning whilst I think of lab rats. Lab rats seems to come to mind as I think of treating Veterans with hydroxychloroquine.
My cynical side has to ask the question if our beloved leader did not stand-up at his Covid-19 daily show and tout the drug, hydroxychloroquine, would there be any interest, whatsoever, in its use as a therapeutic for Covid-19? I seriously doubt it.
In light of the numerous studies both in the US and in Europe refuting its effectiveness with or without azithromycin, why would the VA go down this path? Even the VA's own results, limited at they might be, show the mortality rate for patient on hydroxychloroquine is actually higher than traditional treatment (22.8% vs 11.4% ). Further, the studies that I have read suggest the side effects of hydroxychloroquine, are severe enough (heart failure) to warrant its discontinuance.
The Secretary of the VA, Robert Wilke, a Trump political appointee, defends the decision and suggests the treatment option is only used on Veteran's where there is not other options and a high probability of mortality. This treatment option comes a week after a study was released by the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that death and mechanical ventilation were the only outcomes for patients treated with this therapeutic.
Personally, I am a big fan of the VA and as a long-term patient using the VA, I have always been happy with the professionalism of the staff with whom I interact. This is what is so frustrating about reading the hydroxychloroquine situation. It walks, talks, and quacks like a capitulation to political expediency which the VA should be above.
Our veterans deserve better treatment than being used as lab rats for an unproven and risky therapeutic.
I need another cup of Java this morning.