[ May 2, 2024 ]
The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine is now a laughing stock as widely-touted hydroxychlorine study is found to be based on fabricated data.
Three scientists RETRACT study that claimed Trump-backed malaria drug raised the risk of death for coronavirus patients over ‘concerning data’
- Three authors of a study published in The Lancet suggesting the drug raised coronavirus patients’ risk of death retracted it Thursday
- The Lancet published an ‘expression of concern’ over the study’s data Tuesday
- An outside review of the study was launched, but could not be completed because the data supplier refused to turn over its information
- The study relied on data from health care data analytics company Surgisphere
- It came after more than 120 leading scientists raised concerns about the data
- They highlighted 10 major flaws, including that patient data was wrong
- The Lancet published the research on May 22, which found the drug may be dangerous, causing heart problems of death. Major trials were halted as a result
By Vanessa Chalmers Health Reporter For Mailonline and Natalie Rahhal Acting Us Health Editor, Daily Mail, 5 June 2020
The authors of a momentous study that claimed that hydroxychloroquine raised the risks of death for coronavirus patients treated with the controversial malaria drug have retracted their research.
Story continues below advertisementThe retraction was published in the Lancet on Thursday, and comes just two days after the medical journal posted an ‘expression of concern.’
Along with the publication, more than 120 prominent scientists raised questions about the data used in the study, which was sourced from a database run by a private company, Surgisphere.
On the heels of that research’s May publication, international trials of the drug were halted – but the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday it would restart the hydroxychloroquine arm of its international SOLIDARITY trial.
And President Donald Trump himself continued to take the drug he dubbed a ‘game-changer’ in the hopes it would prevent infection.
The research, led by Dr Mandeep Mehra of Harvard Medical School, Dr Amit Patel of the University of Utah and Dr Frank Ruschitzka of the University Hospital Zurich, has been under outside review.
But Surgisphere refused to transfer its data to the auditors, citing patient privacy. As a result, the review was cut short and the study was retracted.
‘We can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources,’ the authors wrote to The Lancet in their retraction.
A momentous study on hydroxychloroquine that suggested the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine raised death risks in coronavirus patients has been retracted from The Lancet by three of its authors, the leading British medical journal said Thursday (
The study was retracted by three of its four authors: Dr Mandeep Mehra, of Harvard Medical School, Dr Frank Ruschitzka from University Hospital Zurich and Dr Amit Patel of the University of Utah (pictured from left to right) all co-signed the retraction
‘We all entered this collaboration to contribute in good faith and at a time of great need during the COVID-19 pandemic. We deeply apologise to you, the editors, and the journal readership for any embarrassment or inconvenience that this may have caused.’
The fourth author listed on the study, Dr Sapan Desai, who runs Surgisphere, did not sign the retraction.
Even before the study was retracted from The Lancet, hydroxychloroquine was a controversial subject, politicized by President Donald Trump’s references to the drug as a ‘game-changer’ and a ‘gift from God.’
The study’s lead author, Dr Mehra, is a cardiovascular surgeon and registered Republican.
According to the app, Vote With Me, Dr Mehra voted Republican in the 2016 Presidential Primary. He also voted in the 2016 Presidential election, although data from LexisNexis lists only his registration in Louisiana, and does not give a party affiliation.
Dr Mehra said in a personal statement shared with DailyMail.com that he found Surgisphere through a co-author and personally reviewed the company’s data, but admitted that in hindsight, his review was perhaps not thorough enough.
The study authors published a retraction of their research on June 4, less than a month after the original article was published. They revealed that their data could not be reviewed and apologized for any ’embarrassment or inconvenience that this may have caused’‘I did not do enough to ensure that the data source was appropriate for this use. For that, and for all the disruptions—both directly and indirectly—I am truly sorry,’ he said in the statement.
Results from Vote With Me suggest that Dr Patel, an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Utah may be a registered Democrat.
Dr Ruschitzka does not practice in and is not a citizen of the US.
The missing author, Dr Desai, and his company have drawn the most pointed scrutiny in the aftermath of the hydroxychloroquine study.
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Anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine taken by Trump does NOT…Share this article
ShareDr Desai is trained as a vascular surgeon but in practice is also an entrepreneur, founding Surgisphere in 2007. He is also a science fiction writer.
Two criminal flings were made against Dr Desai in 2011 in North Carolina, but it is unclear what the nature of these filings were.
Dr Desai was also named in two medical malpractice suits, but called the allegations ‘unfounded’ in an interview with The Scientist.
His company, Surgisphere, claims to use AI to harvest and organize clinical data from around the world.
Its website boasts a database that includes more than 231 billion data points.
Yet the company employs only between 11 and 50 people, just five of whom are on LinkedIn, according to its page on the professional networking site. Just over 200 LinkedIn users follow the company.
More than 120 top scientists and doctors had criticized the study in an open letter to the journal, flagging 10 major flaws.
Dr Sapan Desai founded Surgisphere in 2007 and was a co-author on the paper in The Lancet. His name was not included in the retraction, but he did co-sign the retraction of a second study from the NEJMDr Sapan Desai founded Surgisphere in 2007 and was a co-author on the paper in The Lancet. His name was not included in the retraction, but he did co-sign the retraction of a second study from the NEJM
The Lancet then admitted there are ‘serious questions’ that need to be answered about the data – but did not reveal what those question were – in a public statement.
But scientists say the move was too late and that the ‘harm was already done’, as the race for a cure to halt the virus that has ravaged the world continues.
However, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday that the hydroxychloroquine arms of its international SOLIDARITY trial of potential coronavirus treatments would resume.
The study in the Lancet, published on May 22, claimed hydroxychloroquine raised the risk of death from the coronavirus by up to 45 percent.
And Covid-19 patients taking the drug were up to five times more likely to develop a life-threatening arrhythmia – a known complication.
The paper came as a massive blow to hopes of finding a cure after hype was built around the medicine built early on in the pandemic by a French study (which has also since been retracted) that suggested the drug’s promise.
US President Donald Trump has been criticized for promoting the drugs – which are used to treat malaria, arthritis and lupus – as a cure for the new virus.
The authors from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, led by Professor Mandeep Mehra, said they were ‘unable to confirm a benefit’ of hydroxychloroquine.
Their finding prompted the UK’s drugs watchdog to temporarily suspend two major Oxford University clinical trials of the antimalarial.
WHAT DID THE LANCET SAY?The Lancet: Expression of concern: Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis
Important scientific questions have been raised about data reported in the paper by Mandeep Mehra et al— Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis1 —published in The Lancet on May 22, 2020.
Although an independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere and is ongoing, with results expected very shortly, we are issuing an Expression of Concern to alert readers to the fact that serious scientific questions have been brought to our attention. We will update this notice as soon as we have further information.
The World Health Organization also pulled the plug on its SOLIDARITY study, on the back of the worrying results.
But on Tuesday evening, the Lancet’s editors published an ‘expression of concern’ and said ‘important scientific questions’ had been raised about the data used in the study.
The data set was supplied by US-based healthcare data analytics company Surgisphere Corporation and its founder, Dr Sapan Desai, was one of the paper’s four co-authors.
Among the criticisms were the seemingly high mortality rates linked to drugs that have been routinely prescribed since the 1950s.
The Lancet’s editors said: ‘Although an independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere and is ongoing, with results expected very shortly, we are issuing an expression of concern to alert readers to the fact that serious scientific questions have been brought to our attention.
‘We will update this notice as soon as we have further information.’
Surgisphere said: ‘In our hydroxychloroquine analysis, we studied a very specific group of hospitalised patients with Covid-19 and have clearly stated that the results of our analyses should not be over-interpreted to those that have yet to develop such disease or those that have not been hospitalised.
‘We also clearly outlined the limitations of an observational study that cannot fully control for unobservable confounding measures, and we concluded that off-label use of the drug regimens outside of the context of a clinical trial should not be recommended.
‘Our Covid-19 research was not funded by any drug company, private or public donor, or political organisation.
‘Our research collaborators on the piece for The Lancet devoted their time through personal funds and resources because they saw the urgent humanitarian need and opportunity to inform rapidly evolving pandemic responses.’
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33 Comments
3 years ago
WE know it’s false
Because the study authors would not cough up their data for external review. That’s a death knell for any science study, and when the people holding the data were stonewalling, the other authors bailed, and washed their hands. They realized that they had trusted the data handlers too much, and their own reputations would get trashed.
3 years ago
Reply to
DemocracyRules
Facts don’t care about their (death) kneelings — Ben Shapiro
their kneelings are just feelings and they are just marks of blind obedience
3 years ago
Reply to
DemocracyRules
You’re too generous to others in giving them the benefit of the doubt. It’s worse than that. This was purposely politically driven and they knew it. Some people are just plain evil!
Lancet Retracts Medical Study Critical of Hydroxychloroquine –
Study Results Were Designed for Political Purposes…
Posted on June 4, 2020 by sundance
The medical journal Lancet has now fully retracted their prior claimed “scientific study” against the use of Hodroxychloroquine. The Lancet study was quickly and purposefully used by all major media outlets to attack President Trump for his advocacy of the drug as an effective treatment for the COVID-19 virus.
It now appears the purpose of the fraudulent “scientific study”, conducted by a sketchy outfit called Surgisphere – who mysteriously appeared only after President Trump advocated for the treatment, was to weaponize medicine for political purposes.
After they were exposed for their role in pushing manipulated data, Lancet has now fully retracted their study in an attempt to retain credibility.
LANCET – Today, three of the authors of the paper, “Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis”, have retracted their study.
They were unable to complete an independent audit of the data underpinning their analysis. As a result, they have concluded that they “can no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources.” (continue reading)https://www.thelancet.com/lancet/article/s0140673620313246?utm_campaign=tlcoronavirus20&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
Don’t expect the media to announce the Lancet retraction, or apologize for their role in pushing the political narrative around it. Journalism is dead as the entire profession has now been exposed as nothing more than narrative engineers.
The Wuhan Virus was exploited for maximum economic damage and political value by an international group of operatives who needed to stop the rise of economic nationalism.
…
The damage was done!
More details here –
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/06/04/lancet-retracts-medical-study-critical-of-hydroxychloroquine-designed-for-political-purposes/#more-193504
3 years ago
Reply to
felix1999
It’s not complicated at all: the globalists are out to kill you and your supporters. When will you deputize and arm us to be proactive and take them out?
3 years ago
Reply to
DemocracyRules
To late! Their reputation is TRASHED! And so is that of the leftist medical rag, the Lancet!
3 years ago
It seems to have worked on the President just fine. Now the democrats are in trouble. How many thousands of lives could have been saved if it had been used early on? The Chinese and democrat plan to use covid 19 to get rid of the President has instead killed tens of thousands of innocent people .
3 years ago
Reply to
Michael Goldman
Mass murder of the most defenseless people, for Democrat political power. and not a single riot.
I wonder what kind of bloodbath it will take to get our attention.
3 years ago
Reply to
spfoam1
I think a lot of people are waiting for the rioting to come directly to them, because most gun owners are very law abiding people. The market went over 27,000 today. If the market keeos going up(even slowly) then the covid 19 murder scheme will have failed miserably, and Soros will start bringing rioters to the suburbs, along with poor communities starting to go there.
3 years ago
Reply to
Michael Goldman
We will tire of the violent mobs pretty soon. They will meet their match one way or another and their organizations will be decapitated.
3 years ago
Reply to
spfoam1
I hope you are correct. it is shocking to see how many mayors and governors are trying to kick the National Guard out, are telling their police to stand down, are doing nothing while things are looted and burn, and then try and make believe it isn’t their fault(or getting the MSM to say it.)
3 years ago
Reply to
Michael Goldman
It took a century to infiltrate and contaminate us to the point where they thought they could finish us off. We were one election away from certain death. Their nature is to murder when they can’t deceive and manipulate, so it will get worse. It’s war, and the enemy is a collective of psychopaths with wealth and power. Look at them….they’re grinning, scheming, mass murdering, treasonous psychopaths.
It’s like a nightmare that is actually true.
3 years ago
The LEFT is so evil, they’d rather have you DIE than survive the Chinese virus. It was useful in patients prior to being put on a ventilator. The truth is, do no harm, went by the wayside, by many, along time ago…. abortion…. gender changes…..
3 years ago
3 years ago
Fauci and Gates screwins everything. They want to use their new medication Remdesivir which will bring them milions. This medication is expensive-about $5,000 per the treatment. It’s not even proven to work and for the side effects. But this gang just doesn’t want to let people use the cheap and reliable HDQ, which helps people and it’s proven by many hospitals. Starting from France research group not related with this mob. The most I really love is the discussions with B. Gates about the vaccines, etc. This man doesn’t even have Bachelor Degree and we all know the Microsoft history. And his “achievements” with the vaccine in India (450,000 childen paralized) and in Africa. Get lost evil!
3 years ago
Reply to
tatka150
If pushing HDQ would put a Democrat in the WH, it would be free and it would be everywhere.
3 years ago
Reply to
tatka150
The Italians have an arrest warrant for Gates.Turn him over immediately and when they are finished with him send him on to India and wherever else his vaccines have caused massive deaths.
3 years ago
Of course it was BS as the libturd criminals always spew BS and lies!!!!
3 years ago
There are still some GOOD doctors out there. Are they the silent majority?
Doctors insist this cheap, safe drug is “key to preventing huge loss of life” from Wuhan virus
HUGE MEDICAL SCANDAL:
Dr Ivette Lozano described “spectacular” results she obtained with COVID-19 patients at all stages and the “ridiculous” situation where many doctors don’t dare prescribe HCQ for fear of getting in trouble with their board, and now pharmacists refusing to sell the drug.
Fri Jun 5, 2020 – 7:42 pm EST
June 5, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — This is Part II of an astonishing 2-part article by LifeSite’s Paris correspondent Jeanne Smits on the “spectacular” results doctors have seen treating covid-infected patients with a drug that powerful forces are trying to stop from saving lives. See Part I here. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-strange-astounding-fight-by-world-leading-infectious-disease-doctor-and-others-to-continue-spectacular-results-saving-covid-infected-lives-using-common-cheap-safe-medication
…
More details here:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/doctors-insist-this-drug-is-a-proven-safe-inexpensive-key-to-returning-society-toward-normal-functioning-and-to-preventing-huge-loss-of-life-from-covid-virus?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=1050e2a03e-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S._COPY_776&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-1050e2a03e-403839357
Dr Stephen Smith
3 years ago
Here comes sleazy fear monger Fauci –
Fauci: Protests Are ‘Perfect Setup for Further Spread’ of Coronavirus
By IAN HANCHETT 5 Jun 2020
…
Fauci:
“What runs through my mind is what does every time I hear about or see the congregation of large crowds at a time and in an area — a geographic area where clearly there is active infection transmission. It’s a perfect setup for further spread of the virus in the sense of creating these blips, which might turn into some surges. So, I get very concerned, as my colleagues in public health, when they see these kinds of crowds. I mean, obviously, not only are they congregating physically close to each other. But often, when they start screaming and demonstrating, which is part of the process of demonstrating, I’m not criticizing that, but I’m saying what it’s going to be leading to is a likelihood that you might have situations where you would force the spread of infection, and that’s really of concern.”
…
Fauci declined to say that such a scenario is “likely. … But there certainly is a risk. I would say that with confidence, that when you have the congregation of crowds, as we’ve been seeing now. I mean, I’m here in Washington, D.C., and you look at the TV, and you see what’s going on, particularly, and the situation in which there is a lot of confusion and some — a little bit of chaos, people running back and forth, taking their masks off, being close in proximity. That absolutely poses a risk that there might be spread of infection.”
He added that people have the right to demonstrate, “but it’s a delicate balance…….”
3 years ago
Israeli Mathematician Accurately Predicted 40-Day Covid-19 Peak:
Reveals new Bombshell Prediction
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz June 2, 2020 , 2:06 pm
(Hmm 40 days and 40 nights…)
As the COVID-19 epidemic fades in Israel, it becomes clear that a radical theory proposed by a brilliant scientist based on mathematical models was precisely accurate in predicting the effects of the epidemic. According to his theory, lockdowns were the result of “mass hysteria” and have no positive effect on ameliorating the spread of the disease. He also stated that there is no reason to believe that the much-dreaded second-wave will ever show up.
It would be an understatement to say that Isaac Ben Israel, a mathematician, military scientist, general, and ex-politician who is currently serving as the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency is a very smart man. So when the coronavirus had the entire world cowering in their homes in the middle of April, most people were skeptical when Ben Israel, who is not a health or medical expert, released a study https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-end-of-exponential-growth-the-decline-in-the-spread-of-coronavirus/
concluding that simple statistical analyses demonstrate that the spread of COVID-19 peaks after about 40 days and declines to almost zero after 70 days. Though he supported social distancing, he attributed the policy of lockdowns and closures was a case of “mass hysteria.” He stated that this 40-day pattern would be the case no matter what measures the government took, or did not take, to ameliorate the pandemic.
“I have no explanation,” Ben Israel said, claiming his predictions were based on graphs and math. “There are all kinds of speculations. Maybe it’s related to climate, or the virus has a life-span of its own.”
…
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/151268/israeli-mathematician-accurately-predicted-40-day-covid-19-peak-reveals-new-bombshell-prediction/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Health+Experts+Baffled+by+Israeli+who+Predicted+Date+of+Covid-19+Peak%3A+Now+he+has+another+Big+Prediction+and+Today+s+Top+Stories&utm_campaign=BIN+-+AM+-+JUNE+2%2C+2020
Isaac Ben Israel 
3 years ago
Having no medical background, I wonder how many of those who contracted the coronavirus were current on their annual flu shots.
It is a statistic that is never approached or considered.
I am current on mine, as usual, and never ill even for a day.
3 years ago
Chloroquine is bad for you huh? If we intended to travel from Australia to Papua New Guinea we needed to start taking Chloroquine at least 2 weeks beforehand to build up our resistance to Malaria, (rampant in PNG), then have a “No Alcohol Day” every week when we took our tablets. POTUS is right – Chloroquine will not harm you and might offer a treatment if you contract the Chinese Wuhan Virus – I have taken hundreds of them over an 18 year period! If it kills Falciparum and Vivax Plasmodium’s it might also kill Wuhan Viruses. Don’t listen to Big Pharma or the Left Wing ChiComm supporters – they are conning you! (Again).
3 years ago
It is disturbing and unacceptable that the Lancet published this without a review
3 years ago
My wife and I are both in the more vulnerable older age group. So we have been taking 100mg quinine, high dose vitamin D3 + K2 and 10mg zinc each day, which, hopefully will be helpful.
3 years ago
My wife and I are both in the more vulnerable older age group. So we have been taking 100mg quinine, high dose vitamin D3 + K2 and 10mg zinc each day, which, hopefully will be helpful.
3 years ago
stop using TV doctors FFS
3 years ago
.
I find it interesting that medical doctors trained in foreign countries, like India, are allowed (licensed) to practice in the United States, even though they have not endured the same amount of rigorous training and education that American trained doctors must undergo before they are allowed (licensed) to practice …
.
it is my understanding that in India, you only need to graduate form 4-years of ‘medical’ training before being conferred the title of ‘doctor’ …
.
3 years ago
.
I find it interesting that medical doctors trained in foreign countries, like India, are allowed (licensed) to practice in the United States, even though they have not endured the same amount of rigorous training and education that American trained doctors must undergo before they are allowed (licensed) to practice …
.
it is my understanding that in India, you only need to graduate form 4-years of ‘medical’ training before being conferred the title of ‘doctor’ …
.
3 years ago
Where are the tort lawyers when we need them? Tens of thousands of deaths have occurred because this and other drugs, i.e.,beta-glucans, ibuprofen, and treatments,i.e., Vitamin C, D3, zinc, were suppressed while people were forced onto ventilators where the death rate is 90%. Cuomo sent infected people into nursing homes where 65% of the deaths occurred. This is massive gross negligence and outright murder. Those responsible should not only be sued but prosecuted. The backs of NEJM and Lancet must be broken. Force the editors to divulge where the orders came to fabricate and publish unverified garbage. Never in my life have I seen a better case for massive damages being warded against people and institutions who have the bucks to pay. Again, I ask, where are the tort lawyers?
3 years ago
Hang them all three!
3 years ago
And now, just one week later, a new fake study in UK says that hydroxycloroquine does not work.
Here is how they “treated” their patients:
1rst day: 12 doses of HCQ (3 or 4 max should be given,10 doses is a surdose)
next days: 4 doses of HCQ
no azithromycin, no zinc
all HCQ patients were already in a severe state when treatment began, with 3/4 of them oxygenated.
No wonder they killed 1/4 of them…
