A French professor who touts the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment – without evidence, scientists say – will appear before a disciplinary panel charged with ethics breaches, an order of doctors has said, reports The Guardian.
Marseille-based Didier Raoult stands accused by his peers of spreading false information about the benefits of the drug. His promotion of hydroxychloroquine was taken up by the US and Brazilian presidents, Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, who trumpeted its unproven benefits in a way critics say put people’s lives at risk.
No clinical trials have yet found in favour of using hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19, and critics say that due to potential serious side-effects, treating coronavirus patients with it is worse than no treatment at all.
In June, the British-led Recovery trial team said hydroxychloroquine did nothing to reduce coronavirus mortality.