The data we have on hydroxychloroquine is now convincingly negative-there's just a ton of misinformation and it's become a political issue. But when some institutions fail you get widespread mistrust of both institutions and experts, which maybe is part of the compounding problem.
The hydroxychloroquine study I'm referring to has less to do with the data and more to do with how the FDA behaves regarding the drug, where they gave the drug an emergency use authorization based off of what seemed like pretty blatant interference from the executive branch. If the drug had ended up working, maybe their reputation would have taken less of a hit, but that wouldn't have changed how inappropriate that authorization was, and how it demonstrated that you could get a drug approved if you had enough political power from the president behind you. That's not a message that's making me optimistic when we look at vaccine development right now - that core trust that the agency operates on science/public health instead of politics has been shaken.
There was some early evidence it could be effective. I’m actually supportive of the FDA’s move to do both the emergency approval and the retraction. Without the ability to take calculated risks in a situation where either approving or unapproving can cause harm, the agency could be a hindrance more than a help. And that means some emergency measures will prove wrong. If none prove wrong, the agency is being too cautious and allowing people to die because of it.
EDIT: I hate the politicization of HCQ by Trump, of course.
HCQ was authorized to be used as a treatment, not merely authorized to be used in trials or for compassionate use (as remdesivir was). That’s the scandal in the face of lack of evidence at that time.
It’s another in a very long line of mistakes over the past three years pointing towards one thing: process matters. It’s boring, it’s not dynamic, but it’s also the thing that prevents organizations from making some extremely bone headed mistakes.
Agree with the point, but the disregard for process has been going on for longer than 3 years. If we want our principles to be taken seriously we can't just call out the other side. Remember "I have a pen and a phone"? How well did that work out?
...and it wasn't our side that called in a drone strike on American citizens overseas, without even a nod to due process.
And who pushed for this drug? I don’t believe the CDC even cared to consider it that much. But the current administration and Trump were pushing way too hard on this. So they felt compelled to investigate. Look at all the damage Trump has corn to all of the organizations in the USA. He’s trying to take away any independent power and concentrate it into his office.
