Abstract
It is common in medicine that simple, inexpensive remedies are held hostage to medical prejudice, financial or political interest, and legal precedent. The purpose of this review is to take the point of view of the victims of COVID-19 and address whether scientific information, including randomized-control trials, can answer whether the hydroxychloroquine should be dispensed for those testing positive and their immediate recent contacts at the point of testing. Although the FDA in the United States is yet to be convinced, the demonstration of positive effects in clinical trials cannot be ignored and there is a large amount of information in the pipeline (published pre-prints and registered clinical trials) that could tip the scales towards making the drug readily available for early disease and contact-prophylactic usage to reduce peak symptoms, symptom duration, contagiousness, hospitalizations and mortality.