dermdoc said:
With all due respect, the same thing can happen with Tylenol. I have used plaquenil for decades as have rheums I know with out ever hearing of this side effect. And it is interesting we used to have to check a G6pd. Weird.
With all due respect, I kind of throw caution out the door when I am dealing with a pandemic. And I would be pissed if a doc did not start me or my family on the cocktail if the meds were available.
Tylenol toxicity is associated almost exclusively with overdose or in combination with other hepatotoxic drugs though, Plaquenil has known toxicities on standard therapeutic doses.
The bottom line is I simply do not see a reason to subject certain patients with an incredibly low risk of severe disease and death to a drug that could do harm than the disease. I've started Plaquenil on about 80% of the stable floor patients with COVID, but those in their 30s and 40s without hypoxia or underlying conditions? I don't believe the potential benefit outweighs the risk. And I certainly don't see the need to blindly prescribe every outpatient COVID case with a prescription.
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