You didn't seem to address the points of the quote I mentioned regarding the meta, and that's why I thought you didn't reply.
The 11 RCTs studied early use of HCQ, and the quote claimed that they were unreliable. Are you saying that they didn't study early use, or are you referring to a different set of RCTs? If you agree that those 11 early-use-of-HCQ RCTs are unreliable, what's left to discuss?
Let's put it this way... There has never been a single world class HCQ RCT, Paxlovid might have had a prayer in hell of passing. The "early study" HCQ RCTs initiated treatment within 8 days of symptom onset (Together), or had a cohort so young (Skipper et al median age 40), there was no chance of statistical significance.
"Early treatment" in fast moving respiratory virus runs around 2 days (Tamiflu), or perhaps 3 to 5 days (Paxlovid), and if you want to see if it's effective at keeping patients out of hospital, or morgue, you've got to trial it on patients susceptible to hospitalization or death from the virus... Namely SENIORS!
There were a boatload of HCQ trials designed to generate a continuous drip, drip, drip of negative outcomes in the news. Most all were on hospitalized patients, or trials with pathetic risk stratification. They were designed to buy time, while Big Pharma's billion dollar babies hatched.
As I mentioned above, even medical professionals became certain proper early trials had been done, but when you ask them to cite these trials, they come up empty handed, or with some pathetically flawed third world trial.
Do you know of any world class "early treatment" HCQ RCT Paxlovid might have had a prayer at showing benefit in? Keep in mind, the Paxlovid trial required an un-vaccinated cohort, who got started on the med within 3 days for their advertised result.
What's left to discuss are the real world results, documented in peer reviewed and published retrospective and observational trials, done by front line doctors who never expected to get rich pushing cheap generics, and had little to gain other than the fact that they saved lives with the resources they had at the time they were needed.
Absence of proof through world class RCT is not proof of absence. Sometimes we've got to simply believe our eyes and personal experience, like with smoking and cancer/heart disease. No proof via RCT there either, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Edited by Dorian Grey, 17 June 2024 - 05:14 AM.