Dr. Kulvinder Gill advocated using hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus. It’s not effective, studies say
Ontario doctor Kulvinder Kaur Gill has been criticized by fellow physicians and others after a series of tweets that they say spread misinformation about COVID-19.
CBC has reviewed two email complaints about Gill’s tweets, including one by a family doctor to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which sets regulatory standards for doctors in the province.
One of her tweets, from Aug. 6, stated: “#Humanity’s existing effective defences against #COVID19 to safely return to normal life now includes: -Truth, -T-cell Immunity, -Hydroxychloroquine.”
That tweet has since been taken down for violating Twitter’s rules. Twitter doesn’t confirm what rules a specific tweet may have violated when it has been taken down. Many doctors also replied critically to Gill’s tweet.
Hydroxychloroquine is a drug used to treat malaria and some autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It has been touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential fix for COVID-19. However, the drug has been shown to be ineffective in combating the virus, according to a major study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Medical bodies such as the Canadian Pediatric Society say hydroxychloroquine has no significant benefit in fighting COVID-19. Health Canada has not authorized hydroxychloroquine to treat or cure COVID-19 and has warned Canadians about products making false and misleading claims. It says hydroxychloroquine can have serious side effects. Only recently did Health Canada authorize, with conditions, remdesivir to treat severe cases of COVID-19.
Katie Nicholson, Andrea Bellemare – CBC News – August 10, 2020.
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Quite the one-sided piece. Have you guys ever considered a career in journalism … instead of whatever it is you’re doing now?
It’s the CBC’s piece!