What are the risks with proceeding with a treatment/cure like this that has not been fully vetted like a traditional medication would?
As I see it, these drugs are themselves not new. So their side effects are already generally known. A patient, under a doctor's supervision and care, can therefore make an informed choice as to whether the risk of side effects justifies the treatment. So am I correct that for this particular treatment the real risk for a patient who tries it is that it simply won't work?
Well, a few things.
There is a small chance of inducing a prolonged QT interval in some patients. I actually did some research on this and concluded that the increase in QTc is likely very, very small and unlikely to affect many. Pfizer did a study that found it was less likely less than 10ms, which is generally not a concern. But it is something to keep in mind. On a national scale, it may kill some patients.
Also, publicly announcing that a potential cure has created a rush on HCQ. It is on backorder and impossible to get right now. There are patients that have Lupus and other autoimmune diseases that literally need this drug to live. Many can't find it now because a whole lot of people panic purchased a prescription several weeks ago. Multiple companies have increased production, so hopefully the shortages are only transient.
But your entire point here is kind of moot. Researchers and physicians knew about this long before the president did or the general public did. If you look through my posts, I mentioned that the most interesting theories are using either an ARB like losartan (this went nowhere) or hydroxychloroquine (this has some potential) back in February or early March. And the cutting edge researchers knew about the potential way before me. It's not like they aren't using these meds in some cases and are waiting for the FDA to give formal approval. Critical care docs are already using it and have been using it. And patients on HCQ are still dying at an alarming rate.
I know a few ID specialist and crit care specialist pharmacists and they aren't really that convinced it is as effective as more sensational reports have described it as being - though it
may have some limited benefit. I pretty much parrot what they are saying - we still don't know if it is effective or not. And if so, how effective. So don't get your hopes up, but it might be an option for physicians.
As an aside, the pros I've spoken to are more behind the use of plasma from recovered patients. An article in JAMA detailed a case study:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763983
But I have to stress, much like HCQ, we don't know if or how effective it will be.
