Medical Journals Retract Two Major Studies Questioning Efficacy Of Different Drugs On COVID-19

reports two studies that questioned the efficacy of different drugs for treating COVID-19 were retracted Thursday by major medical journals. The Lancet pulled a study saying hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine caused heart problems, while the New England Journal of Medicine retracted one on the use of cardiovascular and blood-pressure drugs. The New York Times (6/4, Rabin, Gabler) reports the studies were retracted “because the authors could not verify the data on which the results depended.” Both studies “were led by a professor at Harvard, and both depended on a huge international database of patient medical records that few experts had ever heard of.” The data “came from a company called Surgisphere, which claims to have granular patient-level information shared by 1,200 hospitals and health facilities on six continents.” Among other media outlets providing coverage are: The Washington Post (6/4, McGinley) and the AP (6/4, Marchione). https://www.wsj.com/articles/authors-retract-study-that-found-risks-of-using-antimalaria-drug-against-covid-19-11591299329