Why hydroxychloroquine is probably useless

Blazing Reader,

I've long held the suspicion that hydroxychloroquine — the antimalaria drug that studies show reduces hospitalization with people who have COVID-19 — isn't really effective.

Yeah, I know.... that's what the "bad guys" say. But I've always suspected they were right about this one. Sort of.

Tonight, I was reading Dr. Harvey Risch's essay in Canaries in a COVID World. He cites the famous Skipper et al (2020) study which the media says proves HCQ doesn't do squat for COVID. The study took a large number of people with "COVID-19 symptoms" (common cold, if you ask me) and gave half of them HCQ and the other half nothing. There was no difference in the severity of symptoms in either group. That's why the mainstream says it doesn't work.

But... the study did show a 40% reduction in hospitalization with the group that took the HCQ. That's why the fringe doctors say it does work.

Now think about it: HCQ didn't make anyone feel better, but it did reduce the number of people who ended up in a hospital bed.

You know what that confirms for me? It's not that HCQ did anything beneficial, it just stops people from calling 911 because they have a runny nose. People feel they need "something" — either a trip to the ER or some magic pill, syrup or injection. When, really, they probably just need to relax.

That's probably why that snake-oil salesman of ol' did so well.

Now, I haven't looked over every HCQ study. I'm just a crazy fiction writer with a keyboard. Maybe the drug has some benefits — helps the liver detox or something.

Nonetheless, I'd wager its main benefit is that it stops people from doing something stupid... like getting an experimental mRNA injection.

Myself, I rarely get ill with the flu or cold. Last year, I was sick a few days at the beginning of the year with mild symptoms. Then in December, I had a sore throat for one day (while those around me were sick for a week). I wasn't always so well off. Next, post I'll share with you the three things I do that I believe keep me well. No snake oil. They're all free. They'll even save you money.

But Canaries in the COVID World isn't free. And nor should it be. It's a much needed collection of essays — ranging from the scientific to the philosophical. Reading each page feels rather surreal, as each of the 34 authors reflects on those crazy times that we better not forget. You can purchase a copy through my "shop" — supporting both my work and theirs — at this link: https://blazingpinecone.com/shop/canary-in-a-covid-world/

—John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/