In the early days of the pandemic, when the world faced mounting infection and death curves and scrambled for an answer to the coronavirus, a French microbiologist named Didier Raoult gave what seemed to be a glimmer of hope. Mr. Raoult, who had made a name for himself as an innovator, claimed that a cocktail of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and antibiotic azithromycin could beat Covid-19.
At one point, 20 percent of all registered drug trials in the world were testing hydroxychloroquine, but scientists soon realized that the Frenchman’s claims were unfounded. It became clear that the drug was unable to beat the coronavirus and could actually present risks for patients with pre-existing heart conditions. The world abandoned hydroxychloroquine as quickly as it had embraced it — that is, except in Brazil.
President Jair Bolsonaro, the world’s most prominent anti-vax head of state, praised the drug...
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