Hydroxychloroquine is effective in treating COVID-19, says Henry Ford Health System study - MLive.com

DETROIT, MI — A new study from the Henry Ford Health System may provide more legitimacy on the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.

The study looked over 2,500 hospitalized patients from the Henry Ford’s six hospitals, said Dr.

Marcus Zervos, division head of infectious disease for Henry Ford Health System.

He said the health system wanted to investigate hydroxychloroquine because data showed that it had some clinical benefit and that it could reduce the inflammatory response in COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic.

The study concluded that treatment with hydroxychloroquine significantly reduces the death rate of COVID-19 patients, Zervos said.

Many of the fatalities involved people with underlying health diseases, according to an article from Henry Ford Health System.

It found that 20.1% patients treated with both azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine died and 22.4% of those treated only with azithromycin died — compared a death rate of 26.4% for those not treated with either drug, according to the Henry Ford health article?

Zervos said the Henry Ford health study was peer-reviewed, unlike some other studies.