As mentioned here before on other threads, the strategy behind hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin and ZINC supplements (still not mentioned), was for the Hydroxychloroquine to open pathways through the cell membranes for the passage of Zinc which would interfere with viral replication and prevent that. Azithromycin has the effect of stopping bacterial infections which may occur, but also (as do other Macrolide antibiotics) the effect of stopping the immune system from going into what is known as a Cytokine Storm and attacking the tissues it is supposed to defend. The zinc supplement provided the zinc to interfere with viral reproduction.
At early onset, Dr Zelenko reported that this was highly effective at preventing disease progress sufficient to require hospitalization. He madea YouTube video describing the exact pharmacology, the dosages, the duration, and then also explained why each drug was chosen and the purpose of that drug or supplement in the fight against the disease. He broke it down so a layman could understand it, and for that deserves Kudos, from one scientist to another.
Note, though, that the strategy is most effective if used at first presentation of symptoms, stopping the virus from getting a foothold. The pharmacological regimen, properly administered, is benign enough that unless specifically contraindicated for a patient, would do no harm to someone whose initial symptoms were not due to COVID-19, and a world of good for those who later proved to be positive when the test results came back.
Waiting for confirmation of the pathogen only allows the disease to gain a significant foothold, one which may require hospitalization. Test results were taking up to two weeks to come in, by which time a patient could be in serious condition, or in ICU.
Because most of the 'studies' done on the drug were of patients who were already hospitalized, and often in ICU, the viral damage to the pneumocytes had already been done. Studying a group of patients who are already in serious medical trouble only elevates the mortality rate, and in this case, those patients are already in a medical situation where the administration of something to retard the replication of the virus is the equivalent of closing the barn door after the horses are gone: the damage is already done, the virus has already replicated enough to do significant pulmonary damage.
Note, too, that studies which cited heart arrhythmia also included results of patients dosed with Chloroquine, not just Hydroxychloroquine, two different albeit similar drugs. Higher doses of Chloroquine (and in some cases Hydroxychloroquine) have been known to extend the QT interval, the time between the contraction and readiness for the next contraction of the ventricles on an ECG, which can result in heart failure.
Coupled with the Do Not Resuscitate policies in some jurisdictions, this would also increase mortality, but the side effect is most noted with Chloroquine and less so with Hydroxychloroquine, so combining the two sets of results would elevate the apparent risk of Hydroxychloroquine.
All of these flaws were present in the studies bandied about by the MSM which called the regimen called for by Dr. Zelenko everything but a death sentence, to the point that Dr. Zelenko's video describing the treatment, the logic behind it, and the results was pulled from YouTube because his method did not conform with CDC guidelines based on the flawed studies. Surely those at the CDC, had they viewed his video, could have confirmed the strategy in the regimen and verified that it should work, as well as being able to see the glaring flaws in the studies which claimed to damn it.
There is plenty of blood to go around, but it is on the hands of those 'researchers' who did flawed studies on limited cohorts, those who censored the alternatives based on policies based on flawed studies.
I am just a scientist, and not a medical doctor, but those flaws in the study groups were readily apparent to me.
What is more apparent to me is that for whatever reason, whatever motivation, be it political or pecuniary, or just the thought of being beaten to the punch by a 'country doctor', they attacked something which works.The result of that may well be a doubling of the death rate, if not more.
Heads should roll.
