Top U.S. Doctors Join The Call to Use Hydroxychloroquine to Combat Spread of COVID-19

A recent French peer review study by renowned infectious disease specialist Dr. Didier Raoult which was published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents showed promising results in the treatment of COVID-19 with Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).

The French study also showed a significant decrease in “viral shedding,” from patients treated with HCQ. The lower the shedding, the less likelihood that the virus can be communicated to other individuals.

As the medical profession evaluates different treatment options, public health officials should adopt early treatment measures with the existing tools at our disposal. HCQ is an inexpensive, safe drug that has been used in the treatment of malaria for seventy years.

With no vaccine or antiviral in place, HCQ is the lead candidate for early treatment against the COVID-19 virus. This was the conclusion of a recent medical paper written by Dr. Raymond Chang whose affiliations include the Institute of East-West Medicine in New York and the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taiwan.

HCQ has the ability to prevent the virus from entering the cell, as well as to prevent the virus from replicating. HCQ has the unique factor of being able to accumulate high concentrations in the lungs (specifically where it is needed). What is also appealing is the long duration (22 day half-life) of HCQ in the body. These factors make it promising for early treatment if ingested days before the virus is introduced.

Worldwide reaction to the virus has been one of containment through isolation and social distancing. The objective of early treatment is to decrease the time of isolation and social distancing. The longer the isolation the more devastating the effects on our lives. A nationwide program of early treatment with HCQ, along with concurrent isolation may reap exponential benefits. The existing record of HCQ, its promise of efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 and low costs make the risk to benefit ratio well worth the effort.

Federal and State governments should immediately direct public policy towards increasing production, storage and establishing a distribution protocol and regimen for HCQ to ameliorate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This was the conclusion reached by U.S. academic studies in response to French infectious disease specialist Dr. Raoult’s peer review study, saying HCQ has a strong potential as a prophylactic measure against the severity of COVID-19.

We the undersigned agree with New Jersey State Senator Joe Pennacchio that all levels of government should work together to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic by developing an early treatment to minimize the effects of the virus and reduce its communicability by decreasing viral shedding with the use of Hydroxychloroquine:

Anika Ackerman MD
Urology

Joseph Addeo MD
Oncology

Munir Ahmed MD
Orthopedics

Niran Al-Agba DO
Pediatrics

Frank Alario MD
Internal Medicine

Sharon Carswell MD
Family Medicine

Kimberly Corba MD
Family Medicine

Doug Crane MD
Internal Medicine

Madeline Danny DO
Family Medicine

Philip DeFina PhD
Neuroscientist Clinical Research
US ARMY Intel

Anthony Dippolito MD
MBA General & Colorectal Surgeon

John Eck MD
Family Medicine

Josephine Feingold MD
Emergency Medicine

Ken Fisher MD
Family Medicine

Chris Garofalo MD
Family Medicine

David Gee MD
Family Medicine

Helen Gelhot MD
General Surgery

Eric Gerwirtz MD
Anesthesiology

Yvette Gozzo MD
Pulmonology

Karladine Graves DO
Family Medicine

Wayne Graves DO
Emergency Medicine

Lee Gross MD
Family Medicine

Avinash Gupta MD
Cardiology

James Halper MD
Neuropsychiatry & Internal Medicine

Scott Hardiman MD
Otolaryngology

Kris Held MD
Ophthalmology

Travis Hendricks MD
Infectious Disease

Bindukumar Kansupada MD
Cardiology

Cameron Knackstedt DO
Family Medicine

Herbert Kunkle, Jr MD
Orthopedic Surgery

Steve Kupferburg MD
Otolaryngology

Lee Kurisko MD
Radiology

Guru Lamba MD
Hematology Oncology

Katarina Lindley DO
Family Medicine

Jennifer Lorine DO
Family Medicine/Neuromuscular Med OMT

Lee Merritt MD
General Surgery, US Navy

Winslow Murdoch MD
Family Medicine

Katherine Newland MD
Emergency Medicine

Lisa Norberg DO
Family Medicine

Fred Notarnicola MD
Internal Medicine

Sheila Page DO
Neuromuscular & Skeletal, AAPS President Texas

Kirit Kumar Pandya MD
Urology

Prashant Parikh MD
Primary Care

Philip Pattison MD
Gastroenterology

Danae Powers MD
Anesthesiology

Lee Pressler MD
Urology

Samuel Putnam MD
Interventional Radiology, US Army Flight Surgeon

Raj Raval MD
Physiatrist, Interventional Pain

Luis Rodriguez Jr MD
Interventional Radiology

Scott Roethle MD
Anesthesiology

Sohayla Rostami DO
General Surgery Resident

James Rowsey MD
Ophthalmology

Christine Saba PharmD MD
Pediatrics

Vinod Sanchetti MD
Internal Medicine

Nikki Silverstein MD
Ophthalmology

Marilyn Singleton MD JD
Anesthesiology

Pat Smith MD
Gynecology

Reed Smith MD
Internal Medicine

Douglas Spiel MD
Interventional Pain Radiology

Joel Strom DDS
Dentist

James Thomas MD MBA
Interventional Radiology, Naval Flight Surgeon

Teresa Thomas MD
Internal Medicine

Josh Umber MD
Family Medicine

Kip VanCamp DO
Interventional Radiology

Craig Wax DO
Family Medicine

Vicki Wooll MD MPH
Family Medicine, Epidemiology

Marlene Wust-Smith MD
Pediatrics