New study finds hydroxychloroquine 'significantly' lowers COVID-19 death rate

Hydroxychloroquine, the controversial anti-malaria drug that President Donald Trump touted as a possible treatment for coronavirus, lowered the death rate of COVID-19 patients, according to a new study.

The Henry Ford Health System researched the effects of hydroxychloroquine in treating coronavirus patients and found the drug cut the death rate by nearly half in already sick patients. "Treatment with hydroxychloroquine cut the death rate significantly in sick patients hospitalized with COVID-19," the Henry Ford Health System stated.

The study analyzed 2,541 patients who had been hospitalized in six hospitals between March 10 and May 2, 2020. The Henry Ford Health System published the results on Wednesday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, a peer-reviewed publication of the International Society of Infectious Diseases.

"Our analysis shows that using hydroxychloroquine helped saves lives," Dr. Steven Kalkanis, Henry Ford Medical Group CEO and senior vice president and chief academic officer of the Henry Ford Health System, said. "As doctors and scientists, we look to the data for insight. And the data here is clear that there was benefit to using the drug as a treatment for sick, hospitalized patients."

The study found 13.5% of the coronavirus patients treated with hydroxychloroquine died, compared to 26.4% of patients who did not receive the drug.

"Overall crude mortality rates were 18.1% in the entire cohort, 13.5% in the hydroxychloroquine alone group, 20.1% among those receiving hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin, 22.4% among the azithromycin alone group, and 26.4% for neither drug," the researchers wrote.

Dr. Marcus Zervos, division head of Infectious Disease for Henry Ford Health System, said the timing of hydroxychloroquine treatment could be a key factor.