PCORI To Fund Up To $50 Million Study of Hydroxychloroquine To Prevent COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers

Can't think of a better use for $50 mil. than this. As noted in the intro to March 24's "ICYMI: "These Drugs Are Helping Our Coronavirus Patients":

Again, not yet a confirmed treatment, prophylactic or "cure" but cause for cautious optimism.
And a quick point of clarification: When I mention prophylactic usage it is not to protect the general population, production can't gear up fast enough for that. But if we can find something to give to healthcare workers before sending them into the ICU it would be a huge step towards keeping the healthcare system from breaking.

And maybe, if we find something that works as a preventative, give some to the folks dealing face-to-face with the homeless who, unlike so many of us, don't have the option of work-from-home.

Lifted in toto from the Wall Street Journal's Opinion page, March 22, 2020:....

From EurekAlert:

Duke Clinical Research Institute to build a healthcare worker community registry and conduct a randomized trial powered by PCORnet®, the PCORI-funded health research network

WASHINGTON (April 1, 2020) - The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved up to $50 million to fund a registry and randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in preventing COVID-19 infections in U.S. healthcare workers.

The registry will create a community of healthcare workers (HCWs) interested in contributing to understanding the impact of COVID-19 on them and their colleagues, families and friends, and to determine their willingness to participate in clinical studies. The trial will evaluate the use of HCQ in addition to usual practice in both preventing COVID-19 infection in exposed healthcare workers and limiting the amount of virus HCWs without symptoms might spread and thus unintentionally disperse to others.

The study, led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), will leverage the infrastructure of PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, and its established research network of more than 850,000 clinicians and hundreds of health systems, to allow research to be conducted quickly and efficiently. Study results will be shared widely with the healthcare community, including participating healthcare workers and others most affected.... 

....MUCH MORE