Is dexamethasone really a COVID-19 breakthrough?
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Posted On: 06/17/2020 2:52:06 PM
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Is dexamethasone really a COVID-19 breakthrough? Not so fast, doctors say
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Arlene Weintraub | Jun 17, 2020 10:15am
A patient in a hospital bed on a ventilator
Doctors are eager for more data to determine whether dexamethasone is the right treatment for COVID-19 patients who require ventilation. (Getty/sudok1)
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Not long after researchers in England said the low-cost steroid dexamethasone reduced deaths among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, health experts around the world started raising alarm bells about the study—and the extreme enthusiasm it generated.
Tuesday, researchers funded by the U.K. government said dexamethasone lowered the risk of death in COVID-19 patients on ventilators or oxygen by 35% and 20%, respectively. But they only released a summary of the data, rather than the full study. That irked some high-profile doctors, particularly in the wake of hydroxychloroquine's dramatic rise and fall.
“It will be great news if dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, really does cut deaths by one-third in ventilated patients with COVID-19, but after all the retractions and walkbacks, it is unacceptable to tout study results by press release without releasing the paper,” said Atul Gawande, M.D., author and former CEO of healthcare venture Haven, on Twitter.
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/dexametha...kid=944797
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