Aix-Marseille University launched in June 2020 an investigation "
to study the integrity of the scientific work published by Professor Didier Raoult and his teams on the treatment
" of Covid, the institution announced Tuesday, June 15 to AFP.
Read also: Marseille: Professor Raoult's IHU raided on Monday
This survey has two parts, one -closed- covering 2020 and a second covering 2021, said the establishment. He is one of the supervisors of the Marseille Infection University Hospital Institute headed by Prof. Raoult, author of several scientific articles on the treatment of Covid with the very controversial hydroxychloroquine. "
This investigation, carried out by independent scientific experts, requires at the same time time, seriousness and rigor
" and "
the commission of inquiry continues to work by extending its field of investigation over the current year
", affirmed the university, without wishing to give the conclusions of the first part.
Pr Didier Raoult, a fervent defender of hydroxychloroquine, has published several clinical studies on this antimalarial since March 2020, concluding according to him to its effectiveness against Sars-Cov-2, the Covid-19 virus. The molecule found itself in 2020 at the heart of a planetary controversy, which had largely gone beyond the scientific community to spill over into the political field. The studies published by Didier Raoult and his team were highly criticized by the scientific community, some in particular because the patient samples from the clinical trial were too small, others because there was no group of patients. patients who received a placebo to compare them to the one who received hydroxychloroquine.
Several large clinical studies have concluded in recent months that hydroxychloroquine is not effective against Covid-19.
"
The creation of this evaluation commission follows a request from Didier Raoult who in this capacity requested the presidency of the University in order to verify the integrity of his work
", affirmed the IHU to the 'AFP.
The first part relating to the publications of 2020 was indeed launched at the initiative of the establishment, and the second was extended to 2021 "
in total transparency
" with Didier Raoult, detailed to AFP the president of the Eric Berton University.