CCHF Asks, "How Many Patients Have Died That Could've Been Saved with HCQ?"

ST. PAUL, Minn. —Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF), a national patient-centered health policy organization, opposes the restrictions that governors and state agencies, have placed on the prescribing and dispensing of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for patients with COVID-19.

Over 30 states have some form of limitation, restriction or out-right ban on the prescription of FDA-approved HCQ for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19.

“To our knowledge, never in this nation’s history have governors and state agencies teamed up to deny patients access to a life-saving medication. Pharmacies are refusing to dispense lawfully-prescribed drugs and medical boards are threatening doctors to keep them from prescribing hydroxychloroquine to their patients – a drug that has been deemed safe for human use for at least 65 years, a drug that like every other FDA-approved drug can be used freely for off-label and on-label use. This is a travesty,” said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF.

Two recent studies found HCQ to be an effective treatment for COVID-19. On May 27, Dr. Harvey A. Risch with the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, evaluated five studies, including two controlled clinical studies, and concluded that hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin “need to be widely available and promoted immediately for physicians to prescribe.” Henry Ford Health Systems also conducted a study, which was reported in July. It found “treatment with hydroxychloroquine cut death rates significantly in COVID-19 patients.”

The FDA supports physician freedom to use HCQ. Though the agency revoked the emergency use authorization for government-stockpiled HCQ on June 15, the FDA stated: “Of note, FDA approved products may be prescribed by physicians for off-label uses if they determine it is appropriate for treating their patients, including during COVID.”

“Those who say ‘hydroxychloroquine is not approved for COVID-19’ have missed the message. Like the popular drug Botox, HCQ can be used for all sorts of off-label uses once approved for just one use by the FDA. Making patients wait until even more studies prove what doctors already know can be fatal,” Brase continued.

“At the end of the day, doctors aren’t being allowed to make medical decisions that could save their patients. Countless physicians in exam rooms from California to Connecticut are unable to prescribe HCQ in the early stages of COVID-19, when it could keep their patients from ever entering a hospital or facing the dangers of a ventilator. How many people have to die because bureaucrats have chosen politics over patient care?” she asked.

CCHF maintains a patient-centered, privacy-focused, free-market perspective. CCHF has worked in its home state of Minnesota and at the national level for more than 20 years to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights. In 2016, CCHF launched The Wedge of Health Freedom, an online directory of direct-pay practices (JointheWedge.com).

Twila Brase, RN, PHN has been named by Modern Healthcare as one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care.” She is the host of the daily Health Freedom Minute radio program heard by over 5 million weekly listeners on more than 800 radio stations nationwide, and the author of the eight-time award-winning book, “Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records.