get answers more rapidly and journals are rushing to publish results sometimes paying a price for their haste with retractionsresearch is still chaotic more than 2000 studies are testing covid19 treatments from azithromycin to zinc the volume might not be surprising in the face of a pandemic and a novel virus but some experts say it is troubling that many studies are duplicative and lack the scientific rigor to result in clear answerseverything about this feels very strange said angus who is leading an innovative study using artificial intelligence to help pick treatments its all being done on covid time its like this new weird clock were running onhere is a look at some of the major examples of desperation science underwaymore on covid19coronavirus pandemic complete coverageits time to mask up and stay safe join tois maskindia campaignmhas guidelines for home isolationtrust the newspaper for your daily verified newsa malaria drug goes viral to scientists it was a recipe for disaster in a medical crisis with no known treatment and a panicked population an influential public figure pushes a drug with potentially serious side effects citing testimonials and a quickly discredited report of its use in 20 patientstrump touted hydroxychloroquine in dozens of appearances starting in midmarch the food and drug administration allowed its emergency use even though studies had not shown it safe or effective for coronavirus patients and the government acquired tens of millions of dosestrump first urged taking it with azithromycin an antibiotic that like hydroxychloroquine can cause heart rhythm problems after criticism he doubled down on giving medical advice urging you should add zinc now i want to throw that out there in may he said he was taking the drugs himself to prevent infection after an aide tested positivemany people followed his advicedr rais vohra medical director of a california poison control center told of a 52yearold covid19 patient who developed an irregular heartbeat after three days on hydroxychloroquine from the drug not the virusit seems like the cure was more dangerous than the effects of the disease vohra saidstudies suggested the drug wasnt helping but they were weak and the most influential one published in the journal lancet was retracted after major concerns arose about the datacraving better information a university of minnesota doctor who had been turned down for federal funding spent 5000 of his own money to buy hydroxychloroquine for a rigorous test using placebo pills as a comparison in early june dr david boulwares results showed hydroxychloroquine did not prevent covid19 in people closely exposed to someone with ita uk study found the drug ineffective for treatment as did other studies by the us national institutes of health and the world health organizationboulwares colleague dr rahda rajasingham aimed to enroll 3000 health workers in a study to see if hydroxychloroquine could prevent infection but recently decided to stop at 1500when the study started there was this belief that hydroxychloroquine was this wonder drug rajasingham said more than 1200 people