France Seeks Answers on Lancet’s Hydroxychloroquine Study

(Bloomberg) --

The French government wrote to the Lancet to request a review of the raw data used in a now controversial study into the effects of an old malaria drug called hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.

Health minister Olivier Veran wrote to the scientific journal with questions about the underlying data after it was criticized for the data used in the study, French government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said after a cabinet meeting Wednesday.

The use of hydroxychloroquine has become politicized after U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated endorsements of the treatment. France ruled against using the medicine for Covid-19 last week after the research published in The Lancet, which pointed to a higher risk of death from taking the medicine.

The French suspension was based on more studies than just the Lancet’s, according to Ndiaye.

One of the drug’s foremost champions is a French doctor from Marseilles, Didier Raoult. The Lancet and another prestigious medical journal said late Tuesday they have significant concerns about a database that was used to look at how older drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, may work for the new coronavirus.

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