Thread by @DrMay5

(Thread) Attention #MedTwitter and #EpiTwitter - I am going to try crowdsourcing some advice on a publication venue for a study that my colleague @KHouseknecht and I strongly suspect could have profound impacts on #COVID19 patient outcomes. These are preclinical model data. 1/

Here is the upshot: these (in vivo) data demonstrate profound immune dysregulation occurring as a drug side effect. The drug in question is widely prescribed, notably in vulnerable populations including older adults. These are the very same patients most at risk for... 2/

...complications and death from #COVID19. Related (in vivo) work also showed direct induction or acceleration of cardiac damage from the same drug class. Given increasing reports suggesting both inflammatory sepsis and cardiac arrest as causes of death during #COVID19, and 3/

the widespread use of the drug in question, we are deeply concerned that this prescribing pattern may be adversely affecting #COVID19 outcomes. The question is - where as a clinician would you be most likely to see this short report? We submitted as a Letter to @NEJM and @JAMA 4/

both of whom passed (understandable, as we are sure they are getting far more direct reports on #COVID19 clinical impacts). That said, we are deeply concerned that by holding onto these data until we finish the IHC and vaccination/challenge studies we had planned 5/

for a full-length paper, we are allowing clinical decisions to continue that may be harming patients. Current data include innate and adaptive immune challenges in drug-treated animals, and drug exposure data. Enough for a short report somewhere, but we want to ensure that 6/

these findings make their way onto the radar of prescribers (physicians, PAs, and NPs). So............ we are wide open to suggests, and grateful for any insight. Paging @KindrachukJason @CMichaelGibson @aaronecarroll @PeterHotez and grateful for any other pings or ideas /end

I somehow forgot to ping @eliowa, whose opinion I was also interested in. Thanks in advance!