On Fox & Friends, Dr. Mehmet Oz disagrees with Dr. Anthony Fauci's concerns about hydroxychloroquine
“If it takes me 30,000 patients to show a difference, is that better than showing a difference in 62 patients?” (Yes, it is.)
Published
Citation
From the April 6, 2020, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
DR. MEHMET OZ (HOST, THE DR. OZ SHOW): By the way, the word "anecdote" is used a lot -- that is an incorrect description of where this medication is now. There's no question it's not proven to be beneficial in the large clinical trials we expect in America, and certainly the FDA and medical societies would desire. But these have been supported with case studies. I just got off the phone with Didier Raoult, who's the well-respected French physician who's done a lot of this work. Thousand series of patients -- 1,000 patients in a row he's treated, and he's not published yet, he's going to be published over the next two weeks. But he's got seven people who have died, they were all older and had other co-morbidities, 20 people have gone to the ICU of that trial. Now, it's not a randomized trial, but that's not anecdotal. The data from China we discussed last week for the first time on Fox & Friends also, pretty evident that it's a randomized trial. That is the opposite, if I had to create an opposite of an anecdote. So when those words get thrown around and I saw us this morning in some of the papers, it's an error on the part of journalists.
Doctors know that difference and they say you know what, I've got nothing else. I'm going into a battle, I'm going to march with the army with me. I've got randomized data and large case studies that support -- it's the best I've got and I've got, I'm estimating this, but Dr. Raoult, who was born in Africa, thinks there have been a billion prescriptions written for these products, and he's stunned that there's so much concern about side effects. Yes you have to screen for side effects; a doctor has to be involved. But all of this panic about how dangerous they suddenly became is surprising him.
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Yeah it is. Dr. Fauci, when I asked him, thought the study from China was too small to matter. But we'll move on. He doesn't seem high on this drug at all, I'm not really sure why, but he's the pro. Meanwhile --
OZ: I'm sorry, Brian --
KILMEADE: Go ahead, Dr. Oz.
OZ: He's a pro and I respect him a lot, but a small study that shows statistical significance is a really important observation. If it takes me 30,000 patients to show a difference, is that better than showing a difference in 62 patients? If a small trial demonstrates statistically significant differences, you should respect it. At least pay attention to it.
KILMEADE: Right. Dr. Oz I agree, he couldn't have been more dismissive of my question on Friday, but he's -- he's the guy.