Medical Journals Raise Concerns Over Data From Covid Studies
- Lancet, NEJM both publish ‘expression of concern’ notes
- Surgisphere database was used as basis of two major studies
A pharmacy tech holds pills of Hydroxychloroquine at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 20.
Photographer: George Frey/AFP via Getty Images
Two prestigious medical journals said they have significant concerns about a database that was used to look at how older drugs, including an antimalarial drug promoted by President Donald Trump, may work in the treatment of Covid-19.
On Tuesday, the New England Journal of Medicine published an “expression of concern” about a study released by the journal on May 1 that looked at the use of heart drugs called ACE inhibitors in coronavirus patients. Later Tuesday the Lancet, a nearly 200-year-old U.K. medical journal, issued its own similar warning about a May 22 trial that examined treating Covid-19 patients with the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.