France-Soir
F. Froger / Z9, pour France-Soir; Pixabay
Professor Raoult of IHU Méditerannée in Marseille, France received today a mark of support from world-class scientists and doctors in a letter initiated by non-profit organization BonSens.org. This was sparkled by an article published in Le Monde by a group of french doctors in opposition to the recent publication of Professor Raoult and his team regarding the positive effect of early treatment with hydroxychloroquine on 30 423 patients. The opponents called it a « wild clinical trial » when IHU mediterrannée was caring and treating patients. This letter has already collected more than 50 signatures from doctors and scientists from various countries (France, United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, United States,...).
A mark of solidarity from the international scientific community has emerged in the last 24 hours in response to the constant attacks suffered by the former director of the IHU Méditerranée and his researchers. We were able to consult the messages of support sent by the various scientists and doctors who mobilized quickly to provide support not only to Professor Raoult but also to the other researchers and professors of the IHU who are targeted and attacked in the paper published in Le Monde.
The letter of support is reproduced below, BonSens.org association initially solicited doctors or scientists in the field of Health or biology but were soon joined by other influential individuals for diverse fields of expertise.
Early management of Covid-19 patients has saved livesWe, the signatories of this letter, on the basis of our experience of Covid-19 in hospital, our practice in general practice and/or our reading of several hundred peer-reviewed scientific publications on the subject, confirm that early management of patients with Covid-19 has saved lives.
No, there are no unregulated clinical studies at the IHU Marseille
We assert that retrospective studies gathering hospital data from patients treated within an establishment do not constitute « uncontrolled clinical trials ». They are observational studies based on the act of care, and their scientific quality is no less than that of randomized trials, which are generally controlled by the pharmaceutical industry. It is important for the advancement of medical science that this type of study be published in scientific journals and that the data be made available to the scientific community.
We support the early care approach proposed at the IHU Marseille
We therefore support the early treatment approach adopted in March 2020 by the Marseille IHU under the direction of Professor Didier Raoult, and we support his initiative to publish the results of these early treatments for the scientific community and for the quality of public debate.
Professor Raoult is not isolated
We affirm that Professor Raoult is not isolated in the medical and scientific world, and that in many countries such as India, most of Africa and many Brazilian states, early care has been used successfully.
Hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin are of undeniable interest in Covid19
We maintain that several hundred peer-reviewed studies report an undeniable significant advantage for treatments based on hydroxychloroquine and/or ivermectin, with or without azithromycin or doxycycline, in the early management of Covid19 disease. It should be remembered that Professor Raoult stated very early on that hydroxychloroquine alone was only relatively effective, and that he believed that only the combination with azithromycin was truly effective.
Hydroxychloroquine in current doses is not dangerous
We would remind you that the safe use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, with or without azithromycin, is well known to hospital and city doctors, and that when these drugs have been used in standard doses over a short period as early treatment, no serious study has been able to prove any additional risk to patients. At a time when the health authorities were only recommending Doliprane® and confining patients to their homes, early treatment with drugs that are very well known to doctors has saved lives.
Doctors can prescribe outside the AMM
Finally, we remind you that neither hydroxychloroquine nor ivermectin have ever been banned from prescription in hospitals, and that in general practice, the ban on prescribing hydroxychloroquine was only effective between March 25, 2020 and July 10, 2020.
This freedom to prescribe has since been confirmed by the ANSM (French Drug Agency) and Professor Salomon, Director General of Health, who have declared that doctors can prescribe this molecule off-label.
According to the Académie de Médecine and the Ordre des Médecins, 20% of prescriptions in France are « off-label », and this figure can rise to 80% in certain specialties. Why should what is widely authorized and used by all doctors not be so for Professor Raoult?
Randomized trials halted early despite efficacy signals
We also recall that when the fraudulent Lancet study was published, Mr. Véran, then Minister of Health, suspended patient enrolment in the hydroxychloroquine arms of the ongoing randomized Discovery and Hycovid trials. When the fraud was revealed, and the Lancet publication retracted, these enrolments were nevertheless not resumed, even though it was clear that there was already a signal of efficacy of the molecule that could possibly have been confirmed by a larger cohort.
We ask that the signatories of the tribune against Prof. Raoult specify their conflicts of interest
We therefore disagree on this issue with the article by around twenty scientists published in the newspaper Le Monde on 28 May 2023, and call for their conflicts of interest to be disclosed to the general public in order to enlighten citizens about the reasons for their positions.
Independent Commission of Inquiry
Finally, we support Professor Raoult's call for an independent commission of enquiry with international experts to be set up to assess the performance of early therapies such as those prescribed at the IHU, and used in many countries.
Non-profit BonSens.org includes many scientists as founders: Professor Perronne, world-renowned infectiologist, Dr. Gérard Guillaume, Jean-François Lesgards doctor in biochemistry, Corinne Reverbel doctor in microbiology and Xavier Azalbert director of France-Soir are among the co-founders. BonSens.org has worked tirelessly since 2020 to restore common sense on human, societal and economic health topics through scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and legal actions. More than 60 legal actions have been taken on early treatment, in support of suspended caregivers, on the side effects of Covid19 vaccination, on vaccine contracts as well as on SMS exchanges between Albert Bourla president of Pfizer and Ursula Von der Leyen.
Signatories :
Doctors and scientists
Pr. Christian Perronne, MD, PhD, Infectiologist, France
Dr. Peter Mc Cullough, MD, MPH, Cardiologist, Epidemiologist, Texas
Katarina Lindley D.O. FACOFP, President Global Health Project, COO Global COVID Summit, President Texas AAPS
Dr. Gérard Guillaume, MD, Rhumatologist
Hélène Strohl-Maffesoli, Honorary General Inspector of Social Affairs (IGAS), Paris, France
Pr. Hector Carvallo, Prof. of Internal Medicine, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Pr. Roberto Hirsch, Prof. of Infectology, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dr. Raphael Stricker, MD, Internal Medicine, Director of Union Square Medical Associates, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Dr. Sabine Hazan, Gastroenterologist, Researcher, Clinical Trial Expert, USA
Dr. Flavio A. Cadegiani, MD, MSc, PhD, Brasilia, Brazil
Dr. Mike Yeadon, Managing Director, Yeadon Consulting Ltd, Former Vice President & Global Head of Respiratory & Allergic Diseases Research
Pr. Patrick Forterre, Microbiologist, Universitaire, membre de l'Académie Européenne de Microbiologie
Jennifer Jones, B.S. Chemistry, J.D Law, Chemist, Intellectual Property Attorney (retired), Camas, WA
Dr Louis Fouché, MD, Resuscitator, Marseille,France
Dr Eivind Vinjevoll, MD, Senior consultant anaesthesiologist, Volda, Norway
Dr. Simone Gold, MD, JD, Founder, AFLDS, CEO, GoldCare, USA
Dr. Eric Menat, MD, Muret, France
Jean-François Lesgards, PhD, Biochemist reseacher, Oxydative stress Inflammation. Université Aix Marseille, France
Dr. Gérard Delépine, Surgical Oncologist, without conflicts of interest, France
Dr. Nicole Delépine, Pediatrician, Oncologist without conflicts of interest, France
Dr. Klaus Schustereder, General Internist, Suisse
Dr. Marsha Y. Blakeslee, D.O, Severna Park, MD, Internal Medicine, USA
Dr. Gayln Perry, MD, Perry Center for Pediatric and Adult Sleep Care, CEO and Owner, Kansas City
Dr. Jean Emsallem, Vascular Doctor (Angeliologist), Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Sorbonne University of Paris and the Faculty of Medicine of Marseille, France
Dr. Jose Iglesias, DO FASN, Associate Professor of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian University School of Medicine, Jersey Shore University Hospital, USA
Dr. Gérard Maudrux, Former President of the Health Insurance Fund for the Liberal Professions, Former President of the Pension Fund for Doctors of France, Member of the Academy of Surgery, France
Dr. Claude Escarguel, Hospital microbiologist and former president of the national union of practitioners of general hospitals, Spokesperson of the collective of doctors « AZI-THRO- Hospitalizations » and co-president of the association of covid-long patients (UPGCS), member of the scientific council of the Luc Montagnier Foundation
Dr. Tess Lawrie, Director of EbMCsquared CiC
Dr Edmund Fordham, PhD, FInstP
Hélène Banoun, Pharmacist biologist, PhD, former INSERM researcher
Dr. Marc Rendell, M.D., physician, Newport Coast, California
Dr. Eleftherios Gkioulekas, Professor of Mathematics, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Dr. Gerilyn E. Cross, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Obstetrician/Gynecologist, Hormone Therapy of Citrus County, Crystal River, FL, U.S.A.
Dr. Eric Loridan, General and digestive surgeon, Boulogne sur mer
Dr. Timothy Stonesifer, DO, Chambersburg, USA
Dr. Carrie Cannon, MD, MS
Dr. Hélène Chollet, General practitioner, volunteer at IHU at HDJ COVID
Dr. Daniel Chollet, Respirologist
Dr. Françoise Giorgetti, ENT doctor, volunteer doctor at IHU Marseille
Dr. Nicolas Zeller, General practitioner
Dr Corinne Navarro, General practitioner
Dr. Alain Joseph, Specialist in general medicine, active retiree
Dr Marc Arer, Retired physician
Dr Jean Valette, specialist in General Medicine, retired
Dr Martine Fleury, Retired psychiatrist
Dr Jean-Marc Rehby, General practitioner
Rachel Maldonado, MSW, LSW, Therapist & Life Coach, Chicago, Illinois
Corinne Reverbel, PhD Biochemistry
Bernard Sudan, former Head of Pharmacology and Toxicology Laboratory at Ciba-Geigy, Ciba, Novartis Basel, Switzerland
Dr Lucy Kerr,MD, Director SonImage, Brésil
Dr. Claudia Chaufan, MD, PhD Canadian COVID Care Alliance (CCCA), Canada
Dr. Timothy Stonesifer, MD, PA, USA
Dr. Claudia Chaufan, MD, PhD Canadian COVID Care Alliance (CCCA), Canada
Dr. Timothy Stonesifer, MD, PA, USA
Personalities in support
Michel Maffesoli, Professor Emeritus at the Sorbonne
Laurent Mucchielli, CNRS Research Director, France
Alain Houpert, Senator, France
Laurence Muller-Bronn, Senator, France
Sylvie Goy Chavent, Senator, France
René CHICHE, Professor of Philosophy, National Vice-President Action & Democracy, Member of the Conseil supérieur de l'éducation
Mary Beth Pfeiffer, Investigative Journalist, Author: « Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change »
Paul Medhurst, PhD, NPP, Retired U.N. Officer, Prof., Police, Army, Penzance, U.K.
Xavier Azalbert, Investigative & Scientific journalist, Mathematician & Economist, France
Carole H. Browner, Distinguished Research Professor, department of Anthropology, department of Gender Studies, Center for Culture and Health, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior University of California, Los Angeles