The Henry Ford Health System has discontinued a study of hydroxychloroquine that many had hoped would shed more light on whether the drug works as a treatment for COVID-19.
The study began in April as a randomized controlled trial, often considered the gold standard of medical research. It was supposed to enroll 3,000 participants, but only 624 ever signed up. Henry Ford ended the study just before Christmas, noting that “given low recruitment … it is unlikely that a positive result [would] occur.”
A previous Henry Ford study was often cited by proponents of hydroxychloroquine as proof it worked to treat COVID-19. That study found that patients who took the drug died at half the rate as those who did not. But critics pointed out that the research was a “retrospective” study, not a randomized controlled trial. They also noted that many of the participants who took hydroxychloroquine also took steroids, which have been found to be an effective treatment. Critics of the study included Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
In response, Henry Ford posted a letter on its website, saying the “study should be considered as another important contribution to the other studies of hydroxychloroquine.” The letter also said Henry Ford would decline to speak further about the study because “the political climate that has persisted has made any objective discussion about this drug impossible, and we are deeply saddened by this turn of events.”
Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug that is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. It first gained attention in March, when President Trump said he was using it to prevent COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the drug in late March and then revoked it in June when new evidence suggested it was ineffective.
