Capitol Hill Blue Forums Science and Technology Health, Medicine & the healing Sciences Coronavirus: The Plague of The 21st Century?

I don't know why you are under the impression that the cardiac toxicity of hydroxychloroquine hadn't been reported before. This is from the official FDA monograph on HCQ:

"Cardiac Effects, including Cardiomyopathy and QT prolongation: Postmarketing cases of life-threatening and fatal cardiomyopathy have been reported with use of hydroxychloroquine sulfate as well as with use of chloroquine. Patients may present with atrioventricular block, pulmonary hypertension, sick sinus syndrome or with cardiac complications. ECG findings may include atrioventricular, right or left bundle branch block. Signs or symptoms of cardiac compromise have appeared during acute and chronic treatment. Clinical monitoring for signs and symptoms of cardiomyopathy is advised, including use of appropriate diagnostic tools such as ECG to monitor patients for cardiomyopathy during hydroxychloroquine sulfate therapy. Chronic toxicity should be considered when conduction disorders (bundle branch block/atrio-ventricular heart block) or biventricular hypertrophy are diagnosed. If cardiotoxicity is suspected, prompt discontinuation of hydroxychloroquine sulfate may prevent life-threatening complications.

Hydroxychloroquine sulfate prolongs the QT interval. Ventricular arrhythmias and torsades de pointes have been reported in patients taking hydroxychloroquine sulfate. Therefore, hydroxychloroquine sulfate should not be administered with other drugs that have the potential to prolong the QT interval."

And you are correct that the combination with azithromycin makes it worse (given that AZ also prolongs QTc, exactly the situation the FDA is warning about). Also, the SARS-CoV-2 causes myocarditis, which makes the problem worse too, which is why we are seeing WAY MORE cardiac toxicity with HCQ+AZ in COVID-19 than with malaria.

Safety is disease-specific. A medication (or even worse, a combination of medications) can be helpful and harmless in patients with one condition, and ineffective and harmful in patients with a different condition.

This is why when a new indication is proposed for an existing drug, the FDA requires NEW safety and efficacy tests in THAT population before the indication is granted. Assuming that because it is safe and effective for malaria, it is safe and effective for COVID-19, is a grave mistake.

Regardless of what your YouTube is saying, yes, there's been very clear-cut reports of cardiac toxicity with AZ + HCQ or CQ in COVID-19, including a study in which so many subjects dropped dead of cardiac arrest that the Data and Safety Monitoring Board ordered the study terminated.