Actual physicians are prescribing this at a higher rate than any other drug.
https://abc7news.com/coronavirus-drug-covid-19-malaria-hydroxychloroquine/6079864/
https://www.biospace.com/article/some-doctors-and-pharmacists-stockpiling-covid-19-drugs-is-becoming-a-problem/
Why would physicians stock up on drugs that don't have high efficacy?
I just can't understand why these arguments are being made.
Because for some people they consider taking a hail mary over moving the ball down field. If you actually read that NYT article instead of the tweet goldfly shared it discussed that. Doctors are offering it to patients saying it may work or it may not, here are the risks and people are taking it. TO quote the article, since again, I'm sure you didn't read it.
'Dr. Daniel H. Sterman, the critical care director at NYU Langone Health, said doctors there are using hydroxychloroquine, but data about its effectiveness remained “weak and unsubstantiated” pending the study. “We do not know whether our patients are benefiting from hydroxychloroquine treatment at the present time,” he said.
New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs its public hospitals, is advising but not requiring doctors to use hydroxychloroquine based on a trial showing a decreased cough and fever with mild side effects in two patients, Dr. Mitchell Katz, who oversees the hospital system, said by email on Monday.
Dr. Roy M. Gulick, the chief of infectious diseases at Weill Cornell Medicine, said hydroxychloroquine was given on a case-by-case basis. “We explain the pros and cons and explain that we don’t know if it works or not,” he said.
Doctors at Northwell Health and Mount Sinai Health System are using it as well. At the Mount Sinai South Nassau County branch on Long Island, doctors have employed a regimen of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin “pretty much since day one” with mixed results, said Dr. Adhi Sharma, its chief medical officer.
“We’ve been throwing the kitchen sink at these patients,” he said. “I can’t tell whether someone got better on their own or because of the medication.”'
