Frontiers in Pharmacology rejected Ivermectin paper after accepting it, then publishes nonsensical paper on hydroxychloroquine

This looks like an HCQ paper that was written a year ago, then sloppily updated.  While the authors are from India, they had international editors, including one from Harvard.  The penultimate paragraph says HCQ works for Covid, and the final Conclusions paragraph says it doesn't work. 

Interestingly, this journal is the same one that accepted but then inexplicably rejected the Pierre Kory/FLCCC review of ivermectin treatment for Covid, weeks before.  Kory said several editors quit the journal due to the controversy.

The paper below has 3 authors and 3 listed editors, yet concludes nonsensically.  You have to ask, how was this meaningless paper selected for publication in Frontiers, while the Kory FLCCC paper got rejected?"

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.584940/full

Front. Pharmacol., 06 May 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2021.584940

The Rise and Fall of Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine as Compassionate Therapy of COVID-19

Elangovan Manivannan1*, Chandrabose Karthikeyan2, N. S. Hari Narayana Moorthy2 and Subash Chandra Chaturvedi3

·       1School of Pharmacy, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, India

·       2Department of Pharmacy, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, India

·       3Department of Pharmacy, Shri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore, India

·       EDITED BY

Rafael Maldonado

Pompeu Fabra University, Spain

REVIEWED BY

Promise M. Emeka

King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia

Jonathan Darrow

Harvard University, United States

"The global pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread out of control in several countries and caused considerable morbidity and mortality (Elissa et al., 2020). Thus, there is an urgent need for an effective treatment to cure COVID-19 patients and also to prevent community transmission. Overall, the antiviral activities of CQ and HCQ against several viral diseases, including novel coronaviruses, low costs, good safety profile, and preexisting supply chain, pave the path for entry of these drugs into the treatment guideline of COVID-19. CQ and HCQ have been currently authorized by many countries for treating COVID-19 on a compassionate basis with caution. On March 28, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued the EUA for the inclusion of HCQ in the treatment of COVID-19. Subsequently, on June 15, 2020, the U.S. FDA revoked the emergency use authorization (EUA) based on its ongoing analysis. The U.S. FDA further stated that both of these drugs show no benefit on mortality or in speeding recovery, and hence are unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19 patients. Recently, on June 17, 2020, the WHO also announced to stop the Solidarity trial of HCQ in COVID-19. However, the WHO decided not to prohibit the use or evaluation of hydroxychloroquine in pre- or postexposure prophylaxis in COVID-19 patients.

Conclusion

The worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection made the global healthcare system to confront an entirely new and unprecedented situation. Clinicians worldwide employed a drug repurposing strategy to find drugs that can stem the progression of this highly contagious disease. A plethora of literature evidence on the antiviral potential of CQ and HCQ against several types of viruses including coronaviruses and preliminary clinical data on therapeutic benefits observed with CQ and HCQ treatment in COVID-19 patients led to the FDA authorization of both CQ and HCQ for compassionate use against COVID-19. Furthermore, clinical trial reports from China and France speculated the claims on the anti–SARS-COV-2 efficacy of HCQ either alone or in combination with other drugs like azithromycin. Although preliminary reports supported the use of the antimalarial agents such as CQ and HCQ to treat this rampant COVID-19, subsequent hospital observations and evidence from the large randomized clinical trials of HCQ did not demonstrate any clinical benefits. Ultimately, HCQ as COVID-19 therapy has come to an end on June 15, 2020, as the U.S. FDA revoked the EUA authorization. However, the global search for an effective drug or vaccine remains continues inspiring hope in the battle against COVID-19. Furthermore, our study emphasizes the need for evidence-based treatment approaches from large randomized clinical trials to confront the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and not the mere observational study that mislead the public healthcare system, which paralyzes the entire world."