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Governments and WHO changed Covid-19 policy based on suspect data from tiny US companyThe World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known US healthcare analytics company, also calling into question the integrity of key studies published in some of the world’s most prestigious medical journals.A Guardian investigation can reveal the US-based company Surgisphere, whose handful of employees appear to include a science fiction writer and an adult-content model, has provided data for multiple studies on Covid-19 co-authored by its chief executive, but has so far failed to adequately explain its data or methodology.Data it claims to have legitimately obtained from more than a thousand hospitals worldwide formed the basis of scientific articles that have led to changes in Covid-19 treatment policies in Latin American countries. It was also behind a decision by the WHO and research institutes around the world to halt trials of the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine.More: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/03/covid-19-surgisphere-who-world-health-organization-hydroxychloroquine
Never thought I would post something from The Guardian. I didn't know whether to post this under Health or Scandal.
This certainly looks like a significant case of medical fraud. A company called Surgisphere claimed it had a database of information gathered from over 600 hospitals around the world on the success of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of the coronavirus. The company’s owner authored several papers published in prominent medical journals based on this data. Those papers were then widely reported in the media last month and resulted in drug trials that were already underway being paused:QuoteOn its face, it was a major finding: Antimalarial drugs touted by the White House as possible COVID-19 treatments looked to be not just ineffective, but downright deadly. A study published on 22 May in The Lancet used hospital records procured by a little-known data analytics company called Surgisphere to conclude that coronavirus patients taking chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine were more likely to show an irregular heart rhythm—a known side effect thought to be rare—and were more likely to die in the hospital.Within days, some large randomized trials of the drugs—the type that might prove or disprove the retrospective study’s analysis—screeched to a halt. Solidarity, the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) megatrial of potential COVID-19 treatments, paused recruitment into its hydroxychloroquine arm, for example....Last week, a group of 100 doctors and scientists wrote an open letter to Lancet asking that the data underlying the study be explained in more detail because it appeared the numbers didn’t add up. At the time, Dr. Sapan S. Desai, the owner of Surgisphere vigorously defended the accuracy of his data but refused to show it to anyone. He later agreed to let Lancet review it. However, today the Guardian reported some additional problems with the credibility of Surgisphere, a company whose total of six employees include a science fiction author and an adult model:
On its face, it was a major finding: Antimalarial drugs touted by the White House as possible COVID-19 treatments looked to be not just ineffective, but downright deadly. A study published on 22 May in The Lancet used hospital records procured by a little-known data analytics company called Surgisphere to conclude that coronavirus patients taking chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine were more likely to show an irregular heart rhythm—a known side effect thought to be rare—and were more likely to die in the hospital.Within days, some large randomized trials of the drugs—the type that might prove or disprove the retrospective study’s analysis—screeched to a halt. Solidarity, the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) megatrial of potential COVID-19 treatments, paused recruitment into its hydroxychloroquine arm, for example.
How about that...If this is accurate, and it sounds like it likely is, this "company" and the people who signed on are going to be sued out of existence for massive damages...
