Hydroxychloroquine and the Political Polarization of Science

On January 29 the Hubei Daily, a state-owned Chinese newspaper based in Wuhan, reported on a promising development. Teams of researchers associated with the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences and the Wuhan Institute of Virology had tested dozens of existing pharmaceuticals for possible efficacy against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. They had identified three antiviral drugs that seemed to inhibit the virus from reproducing or infecting other cells in a test tube.

Within a week the highly regarded journal Cell Research published a peer-reviewed letter by researchers at...