(UNICAMP - 2022 - 1 fase - Caderno R)There is no e

(UNICAMP - 2022 - 1ª fase - Caderno R)

There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine helps Covid-19 patients. So why is Congress still discussing it?

By Ashish Jha
Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health
Nov 24, 2020.

Last week, in the United States Senate, the conversation was all about the drug hydroxychloroquine. There has been no evidence that hydroxychloroquine improves outcomes for Covid-19 patients; some studies have found that it causes more harm than good. The hearing and the theater around it reflect the disinformation campaigns that have undermined belief in science. Neither Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin senator who is the chairman of the committee, nor his chosen witnesses showed more than a passing interest in evidence. Intuition and the personal experiences of individual doctors were the guiding principles. Early in the pandemic, President Trump referred to hydroxychloroquine as a “game changer”; “I feel good about it”, he said. That’s not how we practice medicine. We have to protect lives through public health measures while we await widespread vaccinations. By endorsing unfounded therapies, we risk jeopardizing a century’s work of medical progress. Do we really want to go back to not using the best evidence to decide which treatments work? Do we want to let politicians prescribe our medications? Science and evidence are the tools we use to know what is true. They are the foundation of modern medicine and public health.

(Adaptado de https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/opinion/hydroxychloro quine-covid.html. Acessado em 06/06/2021.)

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