French professor who touted controversial Covid treatment faces disciplinary hearing

A controversial 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 said Thursday.

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.

Q&A What is hydroxychloroquine?

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Hydroxychloroquine, also known by its brand name, Plaquenil, is a drug used to treat malaria. It is a less toxic version of chloroquine, another malaria drug, which itself is related to quinine, an ingredient in tonic water.

A widely publicized study in France where 40 coronavirus patients were given hydroxychloroquine, with more than half experiencing the clearing of their airways within three to six days has led to it being touted in some quarters as a potential cure for Covid-19. This apparent improvement is important as it would curtail the timeframe in which infected people could spread Covid-19 to others.

However, experts have warned that the study is small and lacks sufficient rigour to be classed as evidence of a potential treatment. The French study followed work by Chinese researchers which suggested that hydroxychloroquine can slow infections by blocking the virus behind Covid-19 from entering cells in the body. But more recent, albeit small-scale, research from China has shown that patients who were treated with the drugs fought off coronavirus no more quickly than those who didn’t get it. Indeed, one patient given hydroxychloroquine severely worsened in condition while four patients on the medicine developed signs of liver damage and experienced diarrhoea. US president Donald Trump has claimed he takes hydroxychloroquine despite FDA warnings.

Here is a guide to the scientific studies into hydroxychloroquine and coronavirus carried out so far.

Regardless of these findings, any drug being used for a certain purpose before full clinical trials are completed is, by definition, untested and unproven. It’s too early to say if hydroxychloroquine can have a major benefit or not. The European Medicines Agency, an agency of the EU, has said hydroxychloroquine should not be taken by coronavirus patients except for clinical trials or emergency use programs.

Oliver Milman

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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 hydroxychloroquine is worse than no treatment at all.

In June, the British-led Recovery trial team said that hydroxychloroquine does nothing to reduce coronavirus mortality.

A group representing 500 specialists of France’s Infectious Diseases Society (SPILF) filed a complaint with the national order of doctors of the Bouche-du-Rhône department, which includes Marseille, in July.

They accused Raoult of breaking nine rules of the doctors’ code of ethics. Other doctors and patients have also lodged complaints.

On Thursday, the order confirmed it had given the go-ahead for a disciplinary hearing after reviewing the complaints against Raoult. A hearing will likely only take place next year.

Raoult’s lawyer Fabrice Di Vizio confirmed they had received notice of the decision, but insisted his client would be cleared. If found guilty, Raoult could be fined, merely warned or barred from practicing.

Hydroxychloroquine: how an unproven drug became Trump’s coronavirus ‘miracle cure’

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Raoult, who heads the infectious diseases department of La Timone hospital in Marseille, said in March that his study of 80 patients showed “favourable” outcomes in four out of five treated with hydroxychloroquine. But his peers insist there is no scientific evidence to back up the claim.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, visited the scientist on 9 April – at the height of the pandemic, when the French were observing strict stay-at-home rules.