A study involving thousands of COVID-19 patients in Britain suggests that a low-cost steroid drug known as dexamethasone could significantly reduce the death rate for those sick enough to require respiratory support.
- The clinical trial was conducted beginning in March, as part of the University of Oxford’s Randomized Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy, also known as RECOVERY. More than 2,100 patients were given daily doses of dexamethasone for 10 days, while 4,321 patients received usual care without that drug.
- Researchers reported that dexamethasone reduced the death rate by one-third for patients on ventilators, and by one-fifth for patients receiving oxygen. They said there was no benefit for patients who did not require respiratory intervention.
- In some quarters, dexamethasone is being hailed as a “miracle drug,” but the research hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. In a tweet, Haven Healthcare board chairman Atul Gawande said the finding could be “great news … but after all the retractions and walkbacks, it is unacceptable to tout study results by press release without releasing the paper.”
