More Texas City nursing home patients get hydroxychloroquine as doctor sees progress

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by  Taylor Goldenstein April 10, 2020

Exclusive: More Texas City nursing home patients get hydroxychloroquine as doctor sees progress

The medical director at a Texas City nursing home says some COVID-19 patients on an unproven drug are showing signs of improvement and that he’s prescribed it to another dozen patients.

Dr. Robin Armstrong said the first group of nine patients at The Resort at Texas City — where 56 residents and employees have tested positive for the disease — finished their five-day treatment with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine on Wednesday and are stable.

“It seems like the patients are maintaining pretty steady and not having any difficulty, so that’s good,” Armstrong said, though he added that he can’t determine how much their improvement is attributable to the drug. “They seem to be getting better … We're just continuing to monitor them.”

None of their respiratory problems have grown more severe, Armstrong said, addressing one of the most serious complications of the virus.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/texas-city-nursing-home-doctor-unproven-drug-trump-15192584.php

[PeteS in CA]

An update:

https://hotair.com/archives/karen-townsend/2020/04/17/results-texas-nursing-home-using-hydroxychloroquine/

The Results Are In On The Texas Nursing Home Using Hydroxychloroquine
KAREN TOWNSEND  Posted at 6:01 pm on April 17, 2020

Last week I wrote about a doctor who serves as the medical director of a nursing home in Texas City, Texas testing hydroxychloroquine on a group of elderly patients. The test results are in. It’s good news.

Dr. Robin Armstrong faced one of the largest outbreaks in the Houston area when 83 people tested positive for COVID-19 at the 135-bed facility in Galveston County. At the time, I wrote that he was treating 30 patients with hydroxychloroquine. Apparently those numbers have shifted. Now it is being reported that 39 elderly people gave Armstrong permission to treat them with hydroxychloroquine. Fifty-six residents contracted the virus.

Now that the five-day trial is completed, Dr. Armstrong was interviewed this week about the results. At first, he couched his answer by saying “most” of the patients have done well. “And, you know, and I think that that is suggestive that the medication is helpful,” he said. When the reporter pressed him on “most” patients, he explained. “We’ve got one patient now that kind of goes back and forth,” said Dr. Armstrong, “He’s an older gentleman, but we’re kind of nursing him through the process, but he’s getting better.”

[mountaineer]

He was interviewed by Glenn Beck today. He said 38 of the 39 patients are improving steadily. The other died of a non-Covid cause.