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Dr. Didier Raoult is a French microbiologist, doctor, and professor who heads the ''Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes'' (Emerging Infectious and Tropical Disease Research Unit) at Aix-Marseille University and is affiliated with the IHU Méditerranée Infection hospital.<ref>[http://didierraoult.com/a-propos-de-didier-raoult/activites/ Didier Raoult's recent activities] (accessed July 31, 2020) ''Didierraoult.com''</ref>  When SARS-CoV-2 reached France and COVID-19 patients began showing up at the IHU Méditerranée Infection hospital, Dr. Raoult promoted hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin as a treatment protocol.  As he is a director of a lab that specializes in emerging infectious diseases, his research team collected a lot of data in order to study the effectiveness of the treatment.  His team provided the media and the medical community preliminary evidence that HCQ + AZ was working throughout the research process and [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32205204/ published a small study on March 20], but his much larger retrospective analysis study wasn't published until June 25.  Entitled [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893920302817 Outcomes of 3,737 COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin and other regimens in Marseille, France: A retrospective analysis], it is a thorough examination of the HCQ treatment option and it is most definitely ''not'' anecdote... this is medical science done with a high level of precision.

Dr. Didier Raoult is a French microbiologist, doctor, and professor who heads the ''Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes'' (Emerging Infectious and Tropical Disease Research Unit) at Aix-Marseille University and is affiliated with the IHU Méditerranée Infection hospital.<ref>[http://didierraoult.com/a-propos-de-didier-raoult/activites/ Didier Raoult's recent activities] (accessed July 31, 2020) ''Didierraoult.com''</ref>  When SARS-CoV-2 reached France and COVID-19 patients began showing up at the IHU Méditerranée Infection hospital, Dr. Raoult promoted hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin as a treatment protocol.  As he is a director of a lab that specializes in emerging infectious diseases, his research team collected a lot of data in order to study the effectiveness of the treatment.  His team provided the media and the medical community preliminary evidence that HCQ + AZ was working throughout the research process and [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32205204/ published a small study on March 20], but his much larger retrospective analysis study wasn't published until June 25.  Entitled [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893920302817 Outcomes of 3,737 COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin and other regimens in Marseille, France: A retrospective analysis], it is a thorough examination of the HCQ treatment option and it is most definitely ''not'' anecdote... this is medical science done with a high level of precision.

While the study had less patients than Mount Sanai's (it had 3,737 patients), the fact that it had researchers involved throughout the process gave them a lot of data to work with and use in their analysis.  For example, 2,065 low-dose CT scan characteristics were performed among the patients in order to evaluate the effect the virus was having on the lungs. They also "recorded lymphocyte, eosinophil and platelet counts; fibrinogen; D-dimer and other coagulation factors; electrolytes; zinc; lactate dehydrogenase (LDH); creatine phosphokinase (CPK); C-reactive protein; and HCQ serum dosage. Viral load was analysed by qPCR from nasopharyngeal swabs at admission and during the follow-up." The studies main problems was that it was an observational study whose control group consisted mostly of people who had risk factors for HCQ or where seen before HCQ + AZ became the hospital's go-to treatment.<ref name =Francestud/> So what did they find?   

While the study had less patients than Mount Sanai's (it had 3,737 patients), the fact that it had researchers involved throughout the process gave them a lot of data to work with and use in their analysis.  For example, 2,065 low-dose CT scan characteristics were performed among the patients in order to evaluate the effect the virus was having on the lungs. They also "recorded lymphocyte, eosinophil and platelet counts; fibrinogen; D-dimer and other coagulation factors; electrolytes; zinc; lactate dehydrogenase (LDH); creatine phosphokinase (CPK); C-reactive protein; and HCQ serum dosage. Viral load was analysed by qPCR from nasopharyngeal swabs at admission and during the follow-up." The studies main problems was that it was an observational study whose control group consisted mostly of people who had risk factors for HCQ or patients who where seen before HCQ + AZ became the go-to treatment.<ref name =Francestud/> So what did they find?   

{{The patients’ mean age was 45 (sd 17) years, 45% were male, and the case fatality rate was 0.9%. We performed 2,065 low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans highlighting lung lesions in 592 of the 991 (59.7%) patients with minimal clinical symptoms (NEWS score = 0). A discrepancy between spontaneous dyspnoea, hypoxemia and lung lesions was observed. Clinical factors (age, comorbidities, NEWS-2 score), biological factors (lymphocytopenia; eosinopenia; decrease in blood zinc; and increase in D-dimers, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine phosphokinase, troponin and C-reactive protein) and moderate and severe lesions detected in low-dose CT scans were associated with poor clinical outcome. Treatment with HCQ-AZ was associated with a decreased risk of transfer to ICU or death (Hazard ratio (HR) 0.18 0.11–0.27), decreased risk of hospitalization ≥10 days (odds ratios 95% CI 0.38 0.27–0.54) and shorter duration of viral shedding (time to negative PCR: HR 1.29 1.17–1.42). QTc prolongation (>60 ms) was observed in 25 patients (0.67%) leading to the cessation of treatment in 12 cases including 3 cases with QTc> 500 ms. No cases of torsade de pointe or sudden death were observed.</nowiki><ref name =Francestud>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893920302817 Outcomes of 3,737 COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin and other regimens in Marseille, France: A retrospective analysis] by Jean-Christophe Lagier et. al. (July–August 2020) ''Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease''</ref>}} A case fatality rate of 0.9% is really low when compared to other studies, although the fact that patients with milder symptoms were included in the study certainly helped.  For comparison, across the channel, the RECOVERY trial's case fatality rate was 25.7% for hydroxychloroquine and 23.5% for usual care.   

{{quotebox|<nowiki>The patients’ mean age was 45 (sd 17) years, 45% were male, and the case fatality rate was 0.9%. We performed 2,065 low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans highlighting lung lesions in 592 of the 991 (59.7%) patients with minimal clinical symptoms (NEWS score = 0). A discrepancy between spontaneous dyspnoea, hypoxemia and lung lesions was observed. Clinical factors (age, comorbidities, NEWS-2 score), biological factors (lymphocytopenia; eosinopenia; decrease in blood zinc; and increase in D-dimers, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine phosphokinase, troponin and C-reactive protein) and moderate and severe lesions detected in low-dose CT scans were associated with poor clinical outcome. Treatment with HCQ-AZ was associated with a decreased risk of transfer to ICU or death (Hazard ratio (HR) 0.18 0.11–0.27), decreased risk of hospitalization ≥10 days (odds ratios 95% CI 0.38 0.27–0.54) and shorter duration of viral shedding (time to negative PCR: HR 1.29 1.17–1.42). QTc prolongation (>60 ms) was observed in 25 patients (0.67%) leading to the cessation of treatment in 12 cases including 3 cases with QTc> 500 ms. No cases of torsade de pointe or sudden death were observed.</nowiki><ref name =Francestud>[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893920302817 Outcomes of 3,737 COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine/azithromycin and other regimens in Marseille, France: A retrospective analysis] by Jean-Christophe Lagier et. al. (July–August 2020) ''Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease''</ref>}} A case fatality rate of 0.9% is really low when compared to other studies, although the fact that patients with milder symptoms were included in the study certainly helped.  For comparison, across the channel, the RECOVERY trial's case fatality rate was 25.7% for hydroxychloroquine and 23.5% for usual care.   

The study also showed that HCQ was associated with a shorter duration of viral shedding, as one might expect when an antiviral is working as an antiviral. 10.6% of patients using HCQ and AZ had the virus persist longer than ten days versus 20.6% of patients using other treatments.  That result had a statistical significance of P<0.001.  HCQ was also associated with decreased risk of transfer to the ICU or death and decreased risk of hospitalization, both of which were statistically  significant results (P<.001). The study also had zero cases of torsade de pointe despite having treated over 3000 patients.  That is a critically important finding as the main argument opponents of HCQ use is that it causes torsade de pointe which can lead to sudden death.  It must be noted that Raoult's numbers are helped by the fact that he screened out people who had risk factors for HCQ and QTc prolongation was monitored through EKGs in hospitalized patients.<ref name =Francestud/><ref name =CMRaoult>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MAoJnu7-sw&list=PLRgTUN1zz_oeQpnJxpeaEkFimDeepqyWf&t=1670 Covid-19: Is The Worst Behind Us?] by Dr. Chris Martenson (Jun 25, 2020) ''PeakPosperity''</ref>

The study also showed that HCQ was associated with a shorter duration of viral shedding, as one might expect when an antiviral is working as an antiviral. 10.6% of patients using HCQ and AZ had the virus persist longer than ten days versus 20.6% of patients using other treatments.  That result had a statistical significance of P<0.001.  HCQ was also associated with decreased "risk of transfer to the ICU or death" and decreased "risk of hospitalization", both of which were statistically  significant results (P<.001). The study also had zero cases of torsade de pointe despite having treated over 3000 patients.  That is a critically important finding as the main argument opponents of HCQ use is that it causes torsade de pointe which can lead to sudden death.  It must be noted that Raoult's numbers are helped by the fact that he screened out people who had risk factors for HCQ and QTc prolongation was monitored through EKGs in hospitalized patients.<ref name =Francestud/><ref name =CMRaoult>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MAoJnu7-sw&list=PLRgTUN1zz_oeQpnJxpeaEkFimDeepqyWf&t=1670 Covid-19: Is The Worst Behind Us?] by Dr. Chris Martenson (Jun 25, 2020) ''PeakPosperity''</ref>

Dr. Raoult is too prominent of a figure for the mainstream media to ignore.  The following are some examples of how they have portrayed him and his work.

Dr. Raoult is too prominent of a figure for the mainstream media to ignore.  The following are some examples of how they have portrayed him and his work.