The big business barons of 'pharma-medical' industry exercise their tremendous influence over the 'noble profession' through ethical and non-ethical means as well. The industry is in the driver's seat with its enormous power, directing and dictating the profession. That's the root cause of the rot -- to know more about it, read :
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/03/medical-literature.html
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/hydroxychloroquine-hcq-and-coronavirus_29.html
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-noble-profession.html
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/medical-conferences-clinical-meetings_30.html
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/science-and-nonsense-about-covid.html
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2020/02/over-healthcare.html
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2023/01/covid-vaccines-safe-or-unsafe.html
Read them, they are just a click away. You are confused, and these writings may confuse you more !
In the past, we created many ‘monsters’ (drugs) and banned or regulated them -- hundreds of ‘combination drugs’ and many ‘single drugs’ like Nimesulide, Phenophthalein, Sibutramine, Cisapride, Phenyl propanolamine, Analgin, Refocoxib, Astemizole, Terfenadine, fenfluramine, Fenformin, Vioxx, Zelnorm, Baycol, Rosiglitazone, Troglitazone, Rimonabrant and the monstrous Thalidomide of 1961 – to mention a few.
NIMESULIDE tablets were banned years ago in various countries like Switzerland, Spain and the USA. However, 25 years later, in December 2025, India banned just one kind of the nimesulide tablets. Why is there a delay of 25 years ? And, why the other kinds of the drug continue to be available ? Is it to protect the people or the drug manufacturers ?
Mediator (Benfluorex) drug scandal is a historical reminder of deploying dangerous drugs to make money, facilitated by unhealthy ties between drug industry, drug regulators, doctors and politicians. This drug had a tumultuous presence in the market for 33 years and killed around 2,000 people. The drug was promoted to control hyperlipidaemia, diabetes and obesity. To know the saga, click on https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2811%2960334-6 .
There must be many other drugs that may cause as yet undetected serious side effects.
One of the most high profile retractions was of a paper published in the prestigious Lancet medical journal on treating COVID-19 patients with the anti-arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). The study was withdrawn after a group of experts raised "both methodological and data integrity concerns" about it. And after decades of using HCQ, we are still debating whether the drug is safe or not with the publication of the fabricated data. A fiasco indeed.
Touting of this drug by Donald Trump, the President of the US, and his outbursts at WHO about the 'Virus-China' issue may be a different story, as also the story that the motive of discrediting the low-cost HCQ is to make profits to manufacturers of costly alternative molecules like Remdesivir. But 'politico-medical links' are making rounds. The 'Lancet publication' of this study on HCQ kicked up a storm of criticism. A huge number of scientists and researchers alleged that the methodology and the data cited in the 'Lancet study' are flawed, fraudulent and fabricated. In addition, another study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine (another highly reputed journal), by some of the same authors on the subject of HCQ and cardiovascular diseases met with the same criticism.
EDITORIAL in THE HINDU of June 6, 2020
Shine a light: On retraction of a research paper
JUNE 06, 2020 00:02 IST
The scientific process must be protected from those seeking power and riches
Two weeks ago, a study in The Lancet, perhaps the most influential medical journal in the world, found no benefit from the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a well-known antimalarial, to treat sick COVID-19 patients. Today, that study stands retracted. As it had relied on a huge dataset of about 96,000 patients sourced from 671 hospitals in six continents, the World Health Organization, citing a ‘do no harm’ principle, suspended drug trials pending a safety review. This led to some countries in Europe withdrawing the drug from their own trials. Another study involving some of the same authors and relying on the same data published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which sought to answer questions on the associations between cardiovascular disease, COVID-19 and drugs that target the enzymes that play a role in facilitating the virus in attacking a host, has also been retracted. The Lancet study triggered a backlash from scientists who found problems with the methodology and, more importantly, the dataset. It emerged that mortality attributed to the disease in Australia did not match with the country’s own estimates; there was no way to tally patient records and the hospitals they were sourced from; and there were problems with the statistics deployed and the conclusions about the potential risk from the drug.
The bigger concern was that the data was supplied by Surgisphere Corporation, which had a handful of employees with limited scientific expertise, and claimed to have aggregated its numbers by compiling electronic health records in less than two months. Experienced clinical trial specialists said this was a labour-intensive process. Moreover, when aspersions about the data started to swirl, the company, citing client confidentiality, said it was unable to share its data sources for independent assessment. In their retractions, the journals have blamed Surgisphere for being opaque with its primary data. So far, neither journal has introspected on the peer-review process that led to these studies being published in the first place. In hindsight it seems obvious that a disinterested analysis would have raised eyebrows regarding data sourcing, but the post-COVID world is a panic-driven one that has left no institution or appraisal process untouched. The average peer-review takes weeks and the clinical trial process months, but now the expectation is that science delivers its results like magic. For years now, questions have been raised on the effectiveness of the traditional, time-consuming peer-review process and this has launched a welcome culture of papers being uploaded as preprints for review. In the present instance of the HCQ imbroglio, it is the independent effort by external scientists that brought the blight to light. The key lesson is that it is a mistake to assume the scientific process as one divorced from the influence of power, privilege, finance and politics. The means and methods to a scientific result matter more than results — only achieved through global scrutiny. Openness, more than blame game, is what the post-COVID world needs now.
The involved ones in this malpractice are very ‘aberrantly intelligent’ doctors in the USA. The mischief is obviously present in the cases related to Marc Tessier-Lavin of Stanford University and Eugene Braunwald, a cardiologist at a Harvard institution. Prominent journals published 157 Covid-related papers, mostly assisted by ‘AI in medicine’, between January 2020 and October 2021 which were retracted. The stupidity in using such ‘Aberrant Intelligence’ in academics made the otherwise brilliant medical specialists ignominious.
The ‘tricks and tools’ of artificial intelligence had spilled over to medical research -- the episode of the infamous articles that were published and retracted in famous journals like The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine using allegedly fraudulent and fabricated data generated by the Surgisphere through ‘AI in medicine’ is an example.
A link to this ‘scribbling’ : https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/noble-profession.html
THE IVERMECTIN STORY
The latest (October 22, 2020) news about ivermectin in India: experts decided on October 22, 2020 not to include Ivermectin in the National clinical management protocol for Covid-19.
In the search for ‘repurposed’ drugs in the treatment of COVID-19, the old (1981) drug ivermectin has come to the fore.
Ivermectin, an approved drug to treat various parasitic infestations – head lice, scabies, river blindness (onchocerciasis), stronglyoidasis, trichuriasis, ascariasis and lymphatic filariasis is under study for its anti-viral action as it was found to inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 with an IC50 of 2.2 - 2.8 uM in monkey kidney cell culture. It may act against several distinct ‘positive-sense’ single-stranded RNA viruses, but its usefulness in clinical settings is yet to be proved. It is a potential anti-virus agent in Chikungunya and Yellow Fever. It is also used in cases of Dengue fever, Cancer, Zika and HIV as an immuno-modulator.
FABRICATED STUDIES
A 'Pre Print' of a study of Ivermectin of 1,900 patients in 169 hospitals in five continents documented an unbelievably low mortality (2%) in COVID-19 patients on ventilators. The Surgisphere and Dr. Sepan Desai are once again involved in the unholy fabrication of data which made doctors latched on to Ivermectin. And, grants flowed for research on Ivermectin. Such publications influenced rapid policy shifts, as the world seeks some treatment for COVID-19.
Ivermectin has grabbed headlines for wrong reasons. Based on the study data of Surgisphere, the company behind some discredited research studies (including those of HCQ), officials of Latin American countries recommended ivermectin as a possible coronavirus drug. Clinicians there say the effects have been extremely devastating. People emptied the drug stores and self-medicated with no scientific indications, and entered into a false sense of safety.
ADVOCATES FOR IVERMECTIN
Back in India the UP government officials approved (August 2020) ivermectin for treatment and prevention of COVID-19, based on the evidence of a handful of in vitro and observational studies. A publication on June 10, 2020 claimed benefits of lowering mortality at Florida hospitals. As of July 2020, ivermectin was being studied in 19 ongoing and 18 planned clinical trials.
One Prof. Thomas Borody from Centre for Digestive Diseases in Australia 'believes' that ivermectin with zinc and doxycycline is a cure for COVID-19. Prof. Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist from the University of Adelaide said: "Prof. Borody's 'belief' is to be taken with a grain of salt as ivermectin acts only in test tubes." Prof. Borody wondered why Australia didn't consider his recommendation to include ivermectin in COVID-19 treatment while the '"HUGE INDIA" approved it ! (Uttar Pradesh government approved it in August 2020.)
1-s2.0-S0019570720301025-main (1).pdf -- A group of senior doctors with vast clinical experience met on 19th July’20 under the aegis of Academy of Advanced Medical Education. The panel looked at Ivermectin, one of the old molecule and evaluated it's use in COVID 19 (Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019) manage- ment. After critical panel discussion, all the attending doctors came to a conclusion that Ivermectin can be a potential molecule for prophylaxis and treatment of people infected with Coronavirus, owing to its anti-viral properties coupled with effective cost, availability and good tolerability and safety.
© 2020 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
“Ivermectin in the dose of 12 mg BD alone or in combination with other therapy for 5 to 7 days may be considered as a safe therapeutic option for mild moderate or severe cases of Covid-19 infection. It is cost effective especially when the other drugs are very costly & not easily available”.
And some advocated a preventive regimen : (1) High risk frontline workers -- 12 mg weekly; (2) Moderate risk workers & students -- 12 mg fortnightly; (3) Low risk people at home -- 12 mg on day 1, Day 7, and later monthly once. All until the pandemic is over !
Despite lack of robust evidence, many doctors have been following the above mentioned regimens. They may be endorsing the famous quote of the POTUS: “Lack of evidence is not evidence of absence of evidence.” !!!
MATTER OF CONCERN
Concerns have been raised that use of ivermectin in humans may do more harm than good. The hype has shifted from HCQ to Ivermectin. It's no wonder Miss Corona made people lose faith in "scientific" medicine ! She upended everything, promoted uncertainty everywhere.
On April 10, 2020, the FDA issued guidance not to use ivermectin for COVID-19. The Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of the World Health Organization, has issued a statement warning against the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19. The statement notes that the antiparasitic drug is being investigated in clinical trials, but currently, “ivermectin is incorrectly being used for the treatment of COVID-19, without any scientific evidence of its efficacy and safety for the treatment of this disease.” For details go to the links below:
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/surgisphere-sows-confusion-about-another-unproven-covid19-drug-67635
https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/ivermectin-treat-covid-19-coronavirus-3535912/
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-australia-sydney-doctor-claims-cheap-head-lice-drug-could-cure-covid19-and-should-be-used-now/news-story/24b930fcec5e4ef33127b13d4356b0aa
https://www.isglobal.org/en/healthisglobal/-/custom-blog-portlet/questions-and-answers-about-ivermectin-and-covid-19/2877257/0
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA’s ADVISORY
Document No. 5 Ivermectin (Dr. T. Rama Prasad)
Ivermectin not to be included in Centre’s coronavirus management protocol (22.10.2020)
The experts of ICMR’s National Task Force for Covid-19 and the Joint Monitoring Group held its meeting on Thursday (October 22, 2020) to deliberate on whether the drug should be included in the national treatment guidelines.
INDIA Updated: Oct 23, 2020, 15:07 IST
Press Trust of India| Posted by Ayshee Bhaduri New Delhi | |
|
Experts decided not to include Ivermectin in the national clinical management protocol for Covid-19 because of lack of sufficient evidence on its efficacy(Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)
Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, being touted as a possible treatment for the coronavirus infection will not be included in the Health Ministry’s Clinical Management Protocol for Covid-19, sources said on Thursday.
Some states including Uttar Pradesh are already using the drug off-label not only as a treatment option but also as a prophylaxis against Covid-19, a source said.
Already widely used against intestinal parasites and scabies, it is relatively a safe and cheap drug. The experts of The Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR’s) National Task Force for Covid-19 and the Joint Monitoring Group held its meeting on Thursday to deliberate on whether the drug should be included in the national treatment guidelines.
“Following deliberations, experts decided not to include Ivermectin in the national clinical management protocol for Covid-19 because of lack of sufficient evidence on its efficacy based on randomised trials held in India and abroad,” a source said. The Health Ministry has allowed the use of Remdesivir for restricted emergency use purposes in moderate cases under “investigational therapies” in the Clinical Management Protocol for Covid-19.
The ministry has also okayed off-label application of Tocilizumab, a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning, and convalescent plasma for treating Covid-19 patients in moderate stage of the illness as “investigational therapies”.
It also recommended Hydroxychloroquine for patients during the early course of the disease but not for critically ill ones. The centre has also included an inexpensive, widely used steroid Dexamethasone in treatment protocols for Covid-19 patients in the moderate to severe stages of their illness among other therapeutic measures. The ministry advised use of Dexamethasone, which is already used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects, as an alternative choice to Methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of coronavirus infection.
That's THE LONG AND THE SHORT of ivermectin.
To know more about the DRUG AFFAIRS, click on: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/hydroxychloroquine-hcq-and-coronavirus_29.html
------------------------------------------------
Ivermectin not to be included in Centre’s coronavirus management protocol (22.10.2020)
The experts of ICMR’s National Task Force for Covid-19 and the Joint Monitoring Group held its meeting on Thursday to deliberate on whether the drug should be included in the national treatment guidelines
INDIA Updated: Oct 23, 2020, 15:07 IST
Press Trust of India| Posted by Ayshee Bhaduri New Delhi |
Experts decided not to include Ivermectin in the national clinical management protocol for Covid-19 because of lack of sufficient evidence on its efficacy(Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO
Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, being touted as a possible treatment for the coronavirus infection will not be included in the Health Ministry’s Clinical Management Protocol for Covid-19, sources said on Thursday.
Some states including Uttar Pradesh are already using the drug off-label not only as a treatment option but also as a prophylaxis against Covid-19, a source said.
Already widely used against intestinal parasites and scabies, it is relatively a safe and cheap drug. The experts of The Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR’s) National Task Force for Covid-19 and the Joint Monitoring Group held its meeting on Thursday to deliberate on whether the drug should be included in the national treatment guidelines.
“Following deliberations, experts decided not to include Ivermectin in the national clinical management protocol for Covid-19 because of lack of sufficient evidence on its efficacy based on randomised trials held in India and abroad,” a source said. The Health Ministry has allowed the use of Remdesivir for restricted emergency use purposes in moderate cases under “investigational therapies” in the Clinical Management Protocol for Covid-19.
The ministry has also okayed off-label application of Tocilizumab, a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning, and convalescent plasma for treating Covid-19 patients in moderate stage of the illness as “investigational therapies”.
It also recommended Hydroxychloroquine for patients during the early course of the disease but not for critically ill ones. The centre has also included an inexpensive, widely used steroid Dexamethasone in treatment protocols for Covid-19 patients in the moderate to severe stages of their illness among other therapeutic measures. The ministry advised use of Dexamethasone, which is already used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects, as an alternative choice to Methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of coronavirus infection.
During the 'Corona period', various drugs were permitted for 'emergency use / experimental use / compassionate use' by various authorities across the world without robust evidence of benefit. Some pharmaceutical companies and some hospitals had taken advantage of this to misuse the drugs or to facilitate profiteering. It's a sea-saw like situation with evidence for and against with shifting advisories which had become common. For instance, AIIMS and Health Ministry, on September 2, 2020, advised not to use favipiravir, pirfenidone, methylene blue, itolizumab, tocilizumab, etc too enthusiastically as sufficient evidence is lacking to support their use. We have to still learn on the go !
https://healthimpactnews.com/2020/editors-of-the-lancet-and-the-new-england-journal-of-medicine-pharmaceutical-companies-are-so-financially-powerful-they-pressure-us-to-accept-papers/
Editors of The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine said: "Pharmaceutical companies are so financially powerful that they pressure us to accept papers."
“If this continues, we are not going to be able to publish any more clinical research data because pharmaceutical companies are so financially powerful; they are able to pressure us to accept papers that are apparently methodologically perfect, but their conclusion is what pharmaceutical companies want.”
You may be wondering what anybody gets by fraudulently bring a bad name for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). It's a simple business tactic. HCQ is a cheap drug -- even if millions of tablets are sold, the profit that is made would be very small. If HCQ is given a bad name, one has to go for the next alternative - remdesivir or some other very costly drug which gives fat profits. So, the manufacturers sponsor (influence, bribe or buy the researchers) these studies to document results as they want them to be, and do "something" to get the studies published in "reputed" medical journals. It's as simple as that. That's the BIG PHARMA's business !
THIS SEEMS TO BE WHAT "Modern Medicine" IS ALL ABOUT NOWADAYS. CHEATING. SHAMEFUL. See the full text in the link cited below:
https://healthimpactnews.com/2020/editors-of-the-lancet-and-the-new-england-journal-of-medicine-pharmaceutical-companies-are-so-financially-powerful-they-pressure-us-to-accept-papers/
The reading into this link also reveals the weakness and the vulnerability to venality of the editors of the so-called internationally reputed medical journals.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/04/lancet-retracts-major-covid-19-paper-that-raised-safety-concerns-about-malaria-drugs/
"The key lesson is that it is a mistake to assume the scientific process as one divorced from the influence of POWER, PRIVILEGE, FINANCE and POLITICS." -- https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/shine-a-light-the-hindu-editorial-on-retraction-of-the-lancets-research-paper-on-hydroxychloroquine-use/article31761420.ece
Consequent to the uproar, the WHO made a U-turn and declared consideration of continuing its HCQ drug trial on June 5, 2020, whereas the RECOVERY TRIAL, a large UK-based study, stopped including HCQ for treating COVID-19 on June 5, 2020 as there was no evidence of benefits. Professor Martin Landray, a co-leader of the study said that this drug is useless for treating COVID-19.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/05/health/hydroxychloroquine-uk-recovery-trial-bn/index.html .
Again on June 17, 2020 the WHO made another U-turn and announced that HCQ testing is halted in its SOLIDARITY trial as many trials (SOLIDARITY, RECOVERY, COCHRANE review, etc) showed no benefit in treatment of COVID-19.
Has Donald Trump disturbed the mental balance of the WHO !!!
Meanwhile, the ICMR of India published its study indicating that four or more doses of HCQ reduced the risk of getting COVID-19 among frontline healthcare workers (May 28, 2020 -- IJMR, ahead of print publication).
In another scene of the drama, results of a first high quality HCQ study, of RCT protocol standards, carried out in the US (University of Minnesota) is published in The New England Journal of Medicine (June 3, 2020) which concluded that the infection rate was the same in the group which took HCQ and the group that didn't take the drug. So, HCQ is useless in preventing COVID-19. On seeing this publication of the RCT study of post-exposure prophylaxis, the advocates of HCQ prophylaxis must be squirming in their seats. Go to the link below:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2016638
There may be political ramifications and the invisible strong hand of the pharmaceutical industry behind the uproar about the 'Lancet study'. There seems to be a reflection on various personalities, politicians, researchers, institutions, research bodies, the peers who review articles, drug control authorities, academic bodies, publishers and international organisations -- the image of The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine and the WHO is particularly tarnished.
The suspicion is strengthened by the government orders to shut some 'COVID HOSPITALS' in India for overcharging and fleecing the patients.
https://in.dental-tribune.com/news/lancet-faces-severe-criticism-from-scientific-community-hydroxychloroquine-study-is-hiding-data/
" More than 100 scientists and clinicians have sent an open letter to The Lancet's editor, Richard Horton, and the paper's authors asking them many uncomfortable questions, but have failed to receive convincing answers from the authors. How can a drug like Hydroxychloroquine produced in such huge quantities for a country as populous as India, safely consumed by millions & millions of chronic users for so many decades without any adverse effects, suddenly get a negative report in 2020 when it's most needed for a pandemic such as COVID -19 ? " ( https://in.dental-tribune.com/news/lancet-faces-severe-criticism-from-scientific-community-hydroxychloroquine-study-is-hiding-data/ ).
Some other criticisms
- An excellent Open letter with multiple signatures by various researchers led by James Watson (not the DNA guy). Very measured and asks excellent questions.
- James Todaro’s critique of the article, much more of a focus on Surgisphere’s credibility (like my post above) than is in the above letter.
- Guardian Australia coverage of some aspects of the controversy
- The latest of quite a number of posts on Andrew Gelman’s Statistical Modelling blog
- #LancetGate on Twitter (mostly in French)
EDITORIAL in THE HINDU of June 6, 2020
Shine a light: On retraction of a research paper
JUNE 06, 2020 00:02 IST
The scientific process must be protected from those seeking power and riches
Two weeks ago, a study in The Lancet, perhaps the most influential medical journal in the world, found no benefit from the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a well-known antimalarial, to treat sick COVID-19 patients. Today, that study stands retracted. As it had relied on a huge dataset of about 96,000 patients sourced from 671 hospitals in six continents, the World Health Organization, citing a ‘do no harm’ principle, suspended drug trials pending a safety review. This led to some countries in Europe withdrawing the drug from their own trials. Another study involving some of the same authors and relying on the same data published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which sought to answer questions on the associations between cardiovascular disease, COVID-19 and drugs that target the enzymes that play a role in facilitating the virus in attacking a host, has also been retracted. The Lancet study triggered a backlash from scientists who found problems with the methodology and, more importantly, the dataset. It emerged that mortality attributed to the disease in Australia did not match with the country’s own estimates; there was no way to tally patient records and the hospitals they were sourced from; and there were problems with the statistics deployed and the conclusions about the potential risk from the drug.
The bigger concern was that the data was supplied by Surgisphere Corporation, which had a handful of employees with limited scientific expertise, and claimed to have aggregated its numbers by compiling electronic health records in less than two months. Experienced clinical trial specialists said this was a labour-intensive process. Moreover, when aspersions about the data started to swirl, the company, citing client confidentiality, said it was unable to share its data sources for independent assessment. In their retractions, the journals have blamed Surgisphere for being opaque with its primary data. So far, neither journal has introspected on the peer-review process that led to these studies being published in the first place. In hindsight it seems obvious that a disinterested analysis would have raised eyebrows regarding data sourcing, but the post-COVID world is a panic-driven one that has left no institution or appraisal process untouched. The average peer-review takes weeks and the clinical trial process months, but now the expectation is that science delivers its results like magic. For years now, questions have been raised on the effectiveness of the traditional, time-consuming peer-review process and this has launched a welcome culture of papers being uploaded as preprints for review. In the present instance of the HCQ imbroglio, it is the independent effort by external scientists that brought the blight to light. The key lesson is that it is a mistake to assume the scientific process as one divorced from the influence of power, privilege, finance and politics. The means and methods to a scientific result matter more than results — only achieved through global scrutiny. Openness, more than blame game, is what the post-COVID world needs now.
The ICMR seems to have based its recommendations of preventive HCQ among high-risk frontline workers in the battle against COVID-19 on the evidence of some observational studies. Two small observational studies in France and South Korea found some benefit of treatment and prevention. The Direct-General of the ICMR, Balram Bhargava said on May 26, 2020 : "We've weighed the risks and benefits and concluded that we can't as of now deny this (preventive HCQ) to our frontline workers battling COVID-19." As finding a new preventive drug may take several years and marketing a new vaccine several months or years, HCQ seems to be a practical, cheap, reasonably safe and probably effective agent for prevention of potentially lethal COVID-19 infection in high-risk groups. The Chief Scientist of WHO and the former Director-General of the ICMR, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said on May 26, 2020 that the WHO's decision on pausing 'Solidarity' trial does not imply that India should pause testing HCQ as a preventive. However, Dr. Soumya stressed that India ought to be doing stricter trials to test the efficacy in staving off the infection in asymptomatic people at high-risk of contracting the virus. http://www.ijmr.org.in/preprintarticle.asp?id=285520
( https://www.news18.com/news/india/icmr-says-hcq-reducing-risk-among-healthcare-workers-even-as-lancet-study-questions-drug-benefits-2647007.html )
 |
| Trump and Fauci at a White House briefing on 20.03.2020 |
 |
| The Hindu, May 20, 2020 |
At the same time, the FDA has approved the "COMPASSIONATE USE" of chloroquine to treat coronavirus patients in the US (
Consequent to this publication, WHO suspended its HCQ drug trial, over safety concerns.
Touting of this drug by Trump and his outbursts at WHO about 'virus-China' issue is a different story.
- The Asymptomatic Health care workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19)
- Asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.
- Asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19
- Asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases
Dose: - Asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19: 400 mg twice a day on Day 1, followed by 400 mg once weekly for next 7 weeks; to be taken with meals
- Asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases: 400 mg twice a day on Day 1, followed by 400 mg once weekly for next 3 weeks; to be taken with meals
Exclusion/contraindications:
- The drug is not recommended for prophylaxis in children under 15 years of age.
- The drug is contraindicated in persons with known case of retinopathy, known hypersensitivity to
hydroxychloroquine, 4-aminoquinoline compounds Key considerations:
- The drug has to be given only on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner.
- Advised to consult with a physician for any adverse event or potential drug interaction before initiation of medication
- The prophylactic use of hydroxychloroquine to be coupled with the pharmacovigilance for adverse drug reactions through self-reporting using the Pharmacovigilance Program of India (PvPI) helpline/app.
- If anyone becomes symptomatic while on prophylaxis he/she should immediately contact the health facility, get tested as per national guidelines and follow the standard treatment protocol.
- All asymptomatic contacts of laboratory confirmed cases should remain in home quarantine as per the national guidelines, even if they are on prophylactic therapy.
- Simultaneously, proof of concept and pharmacokinetics studies be taken up expeditiously.
Findings from these studies and other new evidence will guide any change in the recommendation
"A run on anti-malaria drugs chloroquine and ...
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov.html
And, there are reports that Hydroxychloroquinde killed some in the US !!!
Clin Med COVID article May 2020.2020-0188.full.pdf
WHO warns against remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment
"The panel found a lack of evidence that remdesivir improved outcomes that matter to patients such as reduced mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, time to clinical improvement, and others," Xinhua news agency quoted the WHO's Guideline Development Group (GDG) panel ass aying in a sattement.
Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday warned that the antiviral drugremdesivir should not be used to treat Covid-19 patients no matter how ill they are as there is no evidence it works."The panel found a lack of evidence that remdesivir improved outcomes that matter to patients such as reduced mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, time to clinical improvement, and others," Xinhua news agency quoted the WHO's Guideline Development Group (GDG) panel as saying in a statement. "Any beneficial effects of remdesivir, if they do exist, are likely to be small and the possibility of important harm remains," the panel added.
The WHO recommendation, published in the British Medical Journal, was based on an evidence review that included data from four international randomised trials among more than 7,000 hospitalised patients.
Dr. T. Rama Prasad
A link to this ‘scribbling’ : https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/noble-profession.html
Even in those good old days, GORU's life couldn't be saved due to the MONEY FACTOR. Go on, read about GORU:
An anecdote about “GORU”
During my childhood, one of my schoolmates had huge nails. Her name was Gowri. We nicknamed her as ‘Goru’ (‘goru’ in Telugu means nail of a finger or toe ). They used to say that her huge nails caused a problem in her heart. It might be a case of ‘Digital Clubbing’ (abnormal nails present in some ‘Congenital Heart Diseases’). After one summer vacation, ‘Goru’ didn’t come back to the school. It was learnt that she died due to the nail / heart problem, and that treatment could not be availed as they didn’t have money to pay for it.
Perhaps, this incident prompted me to look at everyone’s nails from that time which might have led me to report the first case from India of ‘Yellow Nail Syndrome (YNS)’ from India in 1980 (published in an American journal, CHEST) and the first case in the world of ‘Yellow nails & Covid’ in 2023, published in an Indian journal, THE ANTISEPTIC - https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/yellow-nail syndrome_28.html
And perhaps, the preventable death of ‘Goru’ due to the inability to pay for the treatment motivated me to start my ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic (PWYCC) half-a-century ago where patients may pay whatever they can. No fixed fee. f ( http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/06/pay-what-you-can-clinic.html ). The credit for these case reports on YNS and the starting of my PWYCC should go to ‘Goru’. Thanks to “Goru”.
-- T. Rama Prasad
More at : https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/dr-t-rama-prasad.html
This is not an ad, it’s about an odd service.
Dr. T. Rama Prasad's
‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic
“Thena thyakthena bhoojithaha”– Ishopanishad
( Translated by Prof. B.M. Hegde as: “Rejoice in giving.”)
True to this quote, I have been rejoicing at what little I could give. Defying stereotypes, this clinic has been in existence for a very long time, sans glitz, blitz, ads, microphones, speeches and noise. As a matter of my policy, publicity is shunned. The reason is simple. Good work needs no noise and nonsense. My ‘SCRIBBLINGS’ on related topics may be accessed at: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com
Yes, ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN & WISH’, as the consultation fee. It is the patient’s choice. It may even be zero. The patient may pay (donate) any amount. The money may just be put into the ‘hundi’ box, or remitted through the ‘Google Pay/UPI’ QR code / UPI number 9842720393 / UPI ID : drtramaprasad@okhdfcbank. And the money thus received is used for charity to help the needy, the poor and the less fortunate. If interested to know more about this facility, go to: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/06/pay-what-you-can-clinic.html . And, even if you are not a patient, if you wish, you may also 'contribute whatever you can' in the same way.
"We need not run after money. If we are meritorious and compassionate, money would run after us, and it eludes us if we run after it.” -- T. Rama Prasad
“Richness is not having lots of money. It is the feeling that one has enough of it. Contentment sans comparison is what makes one really rich.” -- T. Rama Prasad.
Facebook: T Rama Prasad Twitter: @DrRamaprasadt Telegram : Dr T Rama Prasad
Consult your local doctor before rushing to me.
Most ailments can be cured at local level.
For APPOINTMENT with Dr. T. Rama Prasad, contact : 98427 20393
---------------------------------------------------------------------------Facebook: T Rama Prasad Twitter: @DrRamaprasadt Telegram : Dr T Rama Prasad
Consult your local doctor before rushing to me
Most ailments can be cured at local level
-- T. Rama Prasad
Please go to the LINKS below to know more :
http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/06/pay-what-you-can-clinic.html
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/dr-t-rama-prasad.html
http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com
************************
About the author :
Dr. T. Rama Prasad is the WORLD RECORD holder of authoring 28 articles related to COVID-19 in 30 months, published in a medical journal (The Antiseptic – www.theantiseptic.in -- Indexed in IndMED), and reporting in the same journal the WORLD’s FIRST CASE of ‘Yellow Nail Syndrome’ associated with COVID-19, PT & DM (https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/yellow-nail syndrome_28.html ). He wrote his first article in the premier journal, The Antiseptic, four decades ago. Many of his articles written over half-a-century may be accessed at https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/dr-t-rama-prasad.html & https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-in-newspapers_28.html & https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com .
He is the former MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT (Special) of R.T. Sanatorium & Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre. Presently, he is the Senior Consultant in TB & Lung Diseases, and the Director at ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai, He is the recipient of the “Lifetime Achievement Award” of the ‘Coimbatore Respiratory Society’, and the honorific title “Perundurai Rathinam” from the body of ‘Perundurai Public’.
The following is a list of some of my 'scribblings', including a few from the 28 articles on COVID published in a monthly medical journal in 30 months (a world record). To open them, click on any of the titles. -- T. Rama Prasad
Blog Archive
· ▼ 2017 (115)
o ▼ April (112)
§ DEEPAAVALI
§ Science and Nonsense about COVID
§ AMC BATCH 1959 (revised)
§ Nurses Day 2017
§ FOOD, EXERCISE and SLEEP
§ OMICRON -- a paper tiger ?
§ World TB Day: TB and COVID
§ INDIAN ENGLISH
§ MY QUOTES & JOKES
§ COVID, SCHOOLS & CHILDREN
§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE
§ Death Penalty
§ COVID CROCODILES
§ Number 13
§ WORLD CANCER DAY ..February 4, 2017
§ CORONA VARIANTS
§ PERUNDURAI is the GEM
§ Covishield or Covaxin ?
§ GRADUATION DAY -- 2018, Perundurai Medical Col...
§ "AHIMSA"
§ STAFF & STUDENTS. -- photos
§ SINGAPORE
§ BRINGING UP CHILDREN
§ HAPPY 2018
§ Dr. T. Rama Prasad
§ OMICRON
§ QUOTES
§ POLLUTION, Disease and Deepaavali
§ CESAREAN DELIVERY
§ DOCTORS' HANDWRITING MATTERS
§ RAJYALAKSHMI and SPB
§ PONGAL FESTIVAL
§ To live in INDIA or ABROAD ?
§ THE HINDU newspaper & ME
§ KMCH
§ FISHES
§ RICHNESS and HAPPINESS
§ YELLOW NAIL SYNDROME
§ BIRDS and DANGEROUS DRUGS
§ ABDUL KALAM
§ SUNDAY LUNCH ... Dec 3, 2017
§ VINAYAKA chathurdhi 2017
§ BAHUBALI
§ COMPLEXION
§ DENGUE, ZIKA and MOSQUITO
§ FOOLED TO BELIEVE
§ DIABETES
§ TUBERCULOSIS in India
§ MY ART
§ CIVIC SENSE & MANNERS
§ SMILE and STRESS
§ CANCER
§ DOGS
§ GOD-MEN
§ CODUP
§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE -- too toxic ?
§ GOD, RELIGION & UNIVERSE
§ CORONA and CHARLES DARWIN
§ YOGA
§ HCQ, IVERMECTIN, CORONAVIRUS and FRAUDS
§ INDIAN SUPERBUG
§ SWINE FLU -- A (H1 N1) influenza
§ NIPAH & ZIKA viruses
§ SOPHISTICATED CHEATING
§ PERUNDURAI MEDICAL COLLEGE & SANATORIUM campus
§ RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS
§ MY REAL AWARDS
§ GIRL CHILD : GOLDEN CHILD ; WOMEN POWER
§ ALLERGY, ASTHMA, COPD and ILD
§ TEST-TUBE PUPPIES
§ CREATE / KILL a baby
§ ONAM 2017
§ OPEN AIR DEFECATION
§ DRESS SENSE
§ SEXUAL HARASSMENT
§ RAPE
§ THE CHANGING WORLD
§ MARRIAGE and MATING
§ TEA, COFFEE and COMMERCE
§ DEVALUED DEGREES
§ SCHOOL EDUCATION and NEET
§ INCREDIBLE INDIA !
§ MARKETING TRICKS & INNOVATIONS
§ INTERNET EFFECT
§ RURAL ARE THE REAL
§ MEDICINE IN RURAL INDIA
§ RUN ON MONEY
§ MEDICAL CONFERENCES
§ Dr. Peon, PhD
§ MODERN MEDICINE -- the Good, the Bad and th...
§ YOU ARE NOT OLD
§ MOTHER-IN-LAW
§ RAJYALAKSHMI & International Women's Day 2024
§ SHIVA, KRISHNA, Ramanuja & Ramanujan
§ BETTER HALF
§ OUR LOVE STORY & good old days
§ 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic
§ ABOUT ME and MY SCRIBBLINGS
o ▼ May (2)
§ Post-Omicron Peregrination
· ▼ 2019 (1)
· ▼ 2020 (3)
o ▼ April (1)
o ▼ June (1)
· ▼ 2022 (1)
· ▼ 2023 (17)
§ MONKEYPOX (Mpox)
§ TUBERCULOSIS -- drug-resistant
§ LONG and SHORT of COVID
§ MENTAL HEALTH
§ VERSHA, alias Vega
§ FEAR, STRESS and PSYCHOSIS
§ HEART
§ ZERO COVID
§ INDIAN IMMUNITY, BCG and COVID
§ WOW !!!
§ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
§ COVID vaccines -- Safe or Unsafe ?
§ COVID -- ANTISEPTIC JOURNAL
§ MEDICAL SYSTEMS
o ▼ August (1)
o ▼ October (1)
· ▼ 2024 (1)
Blog Archive
o ▼ April (112)
§ DEEPAAVALI
§ Science and Nonsense about COVID
§ AMC BATCH 1959 (revised)
§ Nurses Day 2017
§ FOOD, EXERCISE and SLEEP
§ OMICRON -- a paper tiger ?
§ World TB Day: TB and COVID
§ INDIAN ENGLISH
§ MY QUOTES & JOKES
§ COVID, SCHOOLS & CHILDREN
§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE
§ Death Penalty
§ COVID CROCODILES
§ Number 13
§ WORLD CANCER DAY ..February 4, 2017
§ CORONA VARIANTS
§ PERUNDURAI is the GEM
§ Covishield or Covaxin ?
§ GRADUATION DAY -- 2018, Perundurai Medical Col...
§ "AHIMSA"
§ STAFF & STUDENTS. -- photos
§ SINGAPORE
§ BRINGING UP CHILDREN
§ HAPPY 2018
§ Dr. T. Rama Prasad
§ OMICRON
§ QUOTES
§ POLLUTION, Disease and Deepaavali
§ CESAREAN DELIVERY
§ DOCTORS' HANDWRITING MATTERS
§ RAJYALAKSHMI and SPB
§ PONGAL FESTIVAL
§ To live in INDIA or ABROAD ?
§ THE HINDU newspaper & ME
§ KMCH
§ FISHES
§ RICHNESS and HAPPINESS
§ YELLOW NAIL SYNDROME
§ BIRDS and DANGEROUS DRUGS
§ ABDUL KALAM
§ SUNDAY LUNCH ... Dec 3, 2017
§ VINAYAKA chathurdhi 2017
§ BAHUBALI
§ COMPLEXION
§ DENGUE, ZIKA and MOSQUITO
§ FOOLED TO BELIEVE
§ DIABETES
§ TUBERCULOSIS in India
§ MY ART
§ CIVIC SENSE & MANNERS
§ SMILE and STRESS
§ CANCER
§ DOGS
§ GOD-MEN
§ CODUP
§ LOCKDOWN MEDICINE -- too toxic ?
§ GOD, RELIGION & UNIVERSE
§ CORONA and CHARLES DARWIN
§ YOGA
§ HCQ, IVERMECTIN, CORONAVIRUS and FRAUDS
§ INDIAN SUPERBUG
§ SWINE FLU -- A (H1 N1) influenza
§ NIPAH & ZIKA viruses
§ SOPHISTICATED CHEATING
§ PERUNDURAI MEDICAL COLLEGE & SANATORIUM campus
§ RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS
§ MY REAL AWARDS
§ GIRL CHILD : GOLDEN CHILD ; WOMEN POWER
§ ALLERGY, ASTHMA, COPD and ILD
§ TEST-TUBE PUPPIES
§ CREATE / KILL a baby
§ ONAM 2017
§ OPEN AIR DEFECATION
§ DRESS SENSE
§ SEXUAL HARASSMENT
§ RAPE
§ THE CHANGING WORLD
§ MARRIAGE and MATING
§ TEA, COFFEE and COMMERCE
§ DEVALUED DEGREES
§ SCHOOL EDUCATION and NEET
§ INCREDIBLE INDIA !
§ MARKETING TRICKS & INNOVATIONS
§ INTERNET EFFECT
§ RURAL ARE THE REAL
§ MEDICINE IN RURAL INDIA
§ RUN ON MONEY
§ MEDICAL CONFERENCES
§ Dr. Peon, PhD
§ MODERN MEDICINE -- the Good, the Bad and th...
§ YOU ARE NOT OLD
§ MOTHER-IN-LAW
§ RAJYALAKSHMI & International Women's Day 2024
§ SHIVA, KRISHNA, Ramanuja & Ramanujan
§ BETTER HALF
§ OUR LOVE STORY & good old days
§ 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic
§ ABOUT ME and MY SCRIBBLINGS
o ▼ May (2)
§ Post-Omicron Peregrination
· ▼ 2019 (1)
· ▼ 2020 (3)
o ▼ April (1)
o ▼ June (1)
· ▼ 2022 (1)
· ▼ 2023 (17)
§ MONKEYPOX (Mpox)
§ TUBERCULOSIS -- drug-resistant
§ LONG and SHORT of COVID
§ MENTAL HEALTH
§ VERSHA, alias Vega
§ FEAR, STRESS and PSYCHOSIS
§ HEART
§ ZERO COVID
§ INDIAN IMMUNITY, BCG and COVID
§ WOW !!!
§ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
§ COVID vaccines -- Safe or Unsafe ?
§ COVID -- ANTISEPTIC JOURNAL
§ MEDICAL SYSTEMS
o ▼ August (1)
o ▼ October (1)
· ▼ 2024 (1)
Facebook: T Rama Prasad Twitter: @DrRamaprasadt Telegram : Dr T Rama Prasad
Consult your local doctor before rushing to me
Most ailments can be cured at local level
A link to this ‘scribbling’ : https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/noble-profession.html Dr. T. Rama Prasad ... a composed creature away from the gamut of emotions -- from euphoria to dejection.  A brief introduction
In the words of Prof C H Sivaraman, FRCP (London):
“ ... Dr. T. Rama Prasad belongs to a distinctly different and unconventional species of doctors. He speaks sparingly and does not even display his qualifications or merits, but his innumerable published writings (he calls them ‘scribblings’ though they are ‘pearls of wisdom and knowledge’, sprinkled with a bit of humour and sarcasm) which received wide acclaim talk eloquently for him. The ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic where services are available for which one may pay whatever one can is a facility run by Dr. Prasad for a very long time which could be a world record. Dr. Prasad is called a “god” by his patients, and many of them named their children after his name “Prasad” -- that is the height of recognition of goodness of a human being... ” Service to humanity is service to God; Kindness costs nothing |
A link to this ‘scribbling’ : https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/noble-profession.html
... a composed creature away from the gamut of emotions -- from euphoria to dejection.
Dr. T. Rama Prasad
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Considering zinc ions and the garlic one inorganic and the other organic seem to play an important role in the metabolic system.Your review of the work with references seems worth for future research.As I studied body fluid is nothing but modified sea water.some ions are in excess yet some are deficient...balance imbalance and unbalance is tricky mechanism in cellular metabolism.Learnt a lot from your article my dear Respected Dr.
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