You’ll still find people today who claim,
against all available evidence, that the drug is a panacea against COVID-19. The now-retracted study was not the only one fueling the hype, but it was the most highly cited. In fact, it’s now become the second most-cited paper ever to be retracted, as you can see on the leaderboard maintained by
Retraction Watch.
It’s also the 28th retracted paper for senior author Didier Raoult, a now-retired microbiologist who worked at Marseille’s L'Institut Hospitalier Universitaire Méditerranée Infection.
In a translated
statement, the Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique said, “[The retraction] must mark the beginning of a broader questioning of the work carried out under the supervision of Professor Didier Raoult, in particular on hydroxychloroquine. This work is suspected of not respecting ethical and scientific standards and is, for some, the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.”
After years of criticism, including a
2023 letter raising serious concerns about methodological flaws in the study and an editorial conflict of interest (one of the co-authors was also editor-in-chief of the journal), the journal finally issued a lengthy retraction notice. It details numerous flaws and inconsistencies, and confirms that three of the authors themselves also flagged issues.
“This is incredibly good news,” Bik told
Nature News. “This paper should never have been published – or it should have been retracted immediately after its publication.”
