hydroxychloroquine
Brazilian private healthcare network under investigation for malpractice during pandemic

According to an official investigation underway by the government of São Paulo, the private healthcare network Prevent Senior used patients as test subjects for COVID treatment and then hid the real number of deaths

COVID-19 treatment: SOLIDARITY trial is restarting with 3 drugs this time

The drug candidates for repurposing are imatinib, a cancer drug; infliximab, an antibody; and artesunate, an anti-malarial drug. The tests seek to explore possible drugs that can be repurposed to treat severely affected COVID-19 patients

Brazil leads 2021 COVID-19 death toll worldwide. Number of victims nears 490k

The rate of death is 4.4x that of the rest of the world. “3 quarters of deaths in Brazil were preventable,” says epidemiologist

WHO mega trial results out: Remdesivir, Interferon fail to prove effective

None of the four drug/drug combinations that were deployed in the WHO’s SOLIDARITY trial were found to be effective in reducing mortality, not even the much-hyped anti-viral drug Remdesivir

Break Gilead’s patent since US has bought all stock of Remdesivir

Trump is trying to improve his waning electoral chances by reserving all of Gilead’s stock of Remdesivir to cover up his disastrous handling of the Covid-19 epidemic so far

US Buys Up Remdesivir: We Must Break Patents for Access to COVID-19 Drug

Newsclick’s Prabir Purkayastha discusses the US buying out supplies of the COVID-19 drug, Remdesivir.

COVID-19: Dexamethasone provides some hope for severely ill

In a trial, Dexamethasone, an inexpensive and widely used corticosteroid, reduced deaths by one-third in ventilated patients and by one-fifth in patients receiving oxygen support

Brazil sees record spike in COVID-19 infections with close to 35,000 new cases on Tuesday

President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly refused to follow preventive measures recommended by the WHO

Vaccines will be the true game changers, says Dr. Satyajit Rath

Dr. Satyajit Rath talks about how vaccines are essential to turn the tide against the COVID-19 pandemic

In less than a month, Brazil sees two health ministers leave office

Nelson Teich, who assumed the position after Luiz Henrique Mandetta was fired, stepped down after less than a month

Coronavirus, economic crisis and authoritarianism: Brazil’s perfect storm

Matheus Falcão and Maíra Mathias of the People’s Health Movement-Brazil analyze the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and examine the challenges faced by the public health system in dealing with such situations

Public health and private profits under COVID-19 pandemic

The pandemic might be devastating countries, the people and their livelihoods, but is good for some companies and their stockholders, like the ones that hold patents for N95 masks, lifesaving medicines or vaccines.