Covid-19: Arthritis drug trial for severe illness is stopped early after increase in deaths

Abstract

To test this, researchers in Brazil conducted a randomised controlled trial from8May to 17 July 2020 in hospital inpatients who were receiving supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation and had abnormal levels of at least two chemicals linked to inflammation in their blood. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either tocilizumab plus standard care or standard care alone, and all patients were monitored for 15 days.