Early Home Therapies against Covid-19. An Italian Case of Politicisation of Science?


Abstract


Since February 2020, strategies aimed at containing and managing the Covid-19 syndemic have been developed by the governments of European countries. Among these measures, the possibility of an early treatment of the disease has been considered of fundamental importance, both for curing the disease and governing the syndemic. Despite their potential, early therapies received a somehow unexpected treatment in Italy and the debate around them gave rise to a very evident conflict between proponents and opponents of those treatments, to the point that some of the former organised a properly political movement in order to promote the integration of early home therapies in the official health protocols. Not surprisingly, the issue of early therapies has been considered an exemplary case of politicisation of science. However, the assimilation of the early therapy controversy to the frame of politicisation of science cannot fully explain why these protocols were discarded by political and health authorities. Rather, the consideration of health protocols as socio-technical objects shifts the attention on the vast range of cultural, political and economic factors that contributed to the general resistance towards those treatments. Therefore, we aim to analyse the media coverage of the phenomenon, and investigate the protocols of home treatment of Covid-19, paying attention to the interaction of the factors that contributed to the exclusion of home therapies into national guidelines.

DOI Code: 10.1285/i20356609v15i3p567

Keywords: Early Home Therapies; Covid-19; medical protocols; politicisation of Science; scientific conflicts; socio-technical-scientific objects

References


Adnkronos (2020), Coronavirus, Oms: ‘Riparte trial con idrossiclorochina’. Retrieved June 8, 2022 (https://www.adnkronos.com/coronavirus-oms-riparte-trial-con-idrossiclorochina_ZbB0Q5j789rUUZPjzyJfs).

AIFA [Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco] (2020a), AIFA sospende l’autorizzazione all’utilizzo di idrossiclorochina per il trattamento del COVID-19 al di fuori degli studi clinici. Retrieved June 8, 2022 (https://www.aifa.gov.it/-/aifa-sospende-l-autorizzazione-all-utilizzo-di-idrossiclorochina-per-il-trattamento-del-covid-19-al-di-fuori-degli-studi-clinici).

AIFA [Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco] (2020b), Azioni intraprese per favorire la ricerca e l’accesso ai nuovi farmaci per il trattamento del COVID-19.

AIFA [Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco] (2020c), Rapporto sull’uso dei farmaci durante l’epidemia COVID-19.

AIFA [Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco] (2022), Raccomandazioni AIFA sui Farmaci per la gestione domiciliare di COVID-19. Vers. 7 - Agg. 09/02/2022.

Atkinson P. (1992), Understanding Ethnographic Texts, London: Sage.

Banfi D. (2020), Covid-19: quali farmaci utilizzare?. Retrieved June 8, 2022 (https://www.fondazioneveronesi.it/magazine/articoli/lesperto-risponde/covid-19-quali-farmaci-utilizzare).

Bartoloni M., A. Gagliardi (2022), Il Covid morde ancora, ma le cure a casa (Usca e antivirali) restano al palo. Retrieved September 15, 2022 (https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/il-covid-morde-ancora-ma-cure-casa-usca-e-antivirali-restano-palo-AEPV4dlB).

Basta G., S. Del Turco, C. Caselli, L. Melani and A. Vianello (2020), “It’s world war at CoViD-19. The first battle on the front of the viral invasion against the exitus for interstitial pneumonia was decisive,” Recenti Progressi in Medicina, 111(4): 238-252, https://doi.org/10.1701/3347.33187.

Berardi F. (2020), The Italian Doctor Flattening the Curve by Treating COVID-19 Patients in Their Homes. Retrieved May 3, 2022 (https://time.com/5816874/italy-coronavirus-patients-treating-home/).

Bolsen T., J.N. Druckman (2015), “Counteracting the Politicization of Science,” Journal of Communication, 65(5): 745-769, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12171.

Branch T.Y., G. Origgi and T. Morisseau (2022), “Why Trust Raoult? How Social Indicators Inform the Reputations of Experts,” Social Epistemology, 36(3): 299-316, https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2022.2042421.

Cavanna L., G. Cremona, C. Citterio, C. Di Nunzio, M. Muroni, A.M. Andena, E. Cattadori, M. Gubbelini, L. Muroni, R. Schiavo, M. Nolli, M. Codeluppi, P. Maniscalco and G. Pedrazzini (2021), “COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Report on the First 124 Consecutive Patients Treated at Home,” The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 255(1): 61-69, https://doi.org/10.1620/tjem.255.61.

Cuppini L. (2022), Gli antinfiammatori riducono le ospedalizzazioni Covid del 90%. Retrieved September 15, 2022 (https://www.corriere.it/salute/malattie_infettive/22_agosto_26/covid-terapia-precoce-antinfiammatori-riduce-ospedalizzazioni-4cb3b68c-24ae-11ed-9477-8142972fc587.shtml).

Epstein S. (1995), “The Construction of Lay Expertise: AIDS Activism and the Forging of Credibility in the Reform of Clinical Trials,” Science, Technology, & Human Values, 20(4): 408-437, https://doi.org/10.1177/016224399502000402.

Erlingsson C., P. Brysiewicz (2017), “A hands-on guide to doing content analysis,” African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(3): 93-99, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2017.08.001.

Evans R. (2022), “SAGE advice and political decision-making: ‘Following the science’ in times of epistemic uncertainty,” Social Studies of Science, 52(1): 53-78, https://doi.org/10.1177/03063127211062586.

Gautret P., J.-C. Lagier, P. Parola, V.T. Hoang, L. Meddeb, M. Mailhe, B. Doudier, J. Courjon, V. Giordanengo, V. Esteves Viera, H. Tissot Dupont, S. Honoré, P. Colson, E. Chabrière, B. La Scola, J,-M. Rolain, P. Broqui and D. Raoult (2020), “Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial,” International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, 56(1): 105949, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949.

Geneva Graduate Institute (2021), COVID-19 Vaccine R&D Funding, Knowledge Portal on Innovation and Access to Medicines. Retrieved June 9, 2022 (https://www.knowledgeportalia.org/covid19-r-d-funding).

Gobo G. (2008), Doing Ethnography. London: Sage.

Gobo G., Sena B. (2022), “Questioning and disputing vaccination policies. Scientists and experts in the Italian public debate,” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 42(1-2): 25-38, https://doi.org/10.1177/02704676221080928.

Gobo G., Marcheselli V. (forthcoming, 2023), Science, Technology and Society: An Introduction. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hariton E., J.J. Locascio (2018), “Randomised controlled trials—the gold standard for effectiveness research,” BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology, 125(13): 1716, https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.15199.

Horton R. (2020), “Offline: COVID-19 is not a pandemic,” The Lancet, 396(10255): 874, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32000-6.

Imarisio M. (2020), Clorochina, il farmaco Plaquenil “efficace contro il coronavirus se assunto all’inizio della malattia.” Retrieved June 8, 2022 (https://www.corriere.it/cronache/20_maggio_07/coronavirus-clorochina-efficace-se-assunta-all-inizio-malattia-6838911a-8fd3-11ea-bb7f-d3d655d2211a.shtml).

Imarisio M. (2022), Remuzzi: «Anche noi scienziati abbiamo colpe. Quel 19 febbraio ero alla partita Atalanta-Valencia». Retrieved May 3, 2022 (corriere.it/cronache/22_febbraio_21/remuzzi-anche-noi-scienziati-abbiamo-colpe-quel-19-febbraio-ero-partita-atalanta-valencia-c90933c2-9289-11ec-8b82-9c9a53609f22.shtml)

Jasanoff S. (1987), “Contested Boundaries in Policy-Relevant Science,” Social Studies of Science, 17(2): 195-230.

Jasanoff S. (2007), Designs on nature: science and democracy in Europe and the United States, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Kennedy J. (2019), “Populist politics and vaccine hesitancy in Western Europe: an analysis of national-level data,” European Journal of Public Health, 29(3): 512-516, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckz004.

Kuhn T. (1962), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff A. (2008), “The Right Patients for the Drug: Pharmaceutical Circuits and the Codification of Illness,” in E.J. Hackett, O. Amsterdamska, M. Lynch and J. Wajcman (eds.), The Hanbook of Science and Technology Studies, 3rd edn, Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT Press, 741–759.

Lasco G. (2020), “Medical populism and the COVID-19 pandemic,” Global Public Health, 15(10): 1417-1429, https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1807581.

Lasco G., N. Curato (2019), “Medical populism,” Social Science & Medicine, 221: 1-8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.12.006.

Lasco G., H.J. Larson (2020), “Medical populism and immunisation programmes: Illustrative examples and consequences for public health,” Global Public Health, 15(3): 334-344, https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2019.1680724.

Law J. (1992), “Notes on the theory of the actor-network: Ordering, strategy, and heterogeneity,” Systems practice, 5(4): 379-393, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059830.

Lombard M., J. Snyder-Duch and C.C. Bracken (2002), “Content Analysis in Mass Communication: Assessment and Reporting of Intercoder Reliability,” Human Communication Research, 28(4): 587-604, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2002.tb00826.x.

MacPhail C., N. Khoza, L. Abler and M. Ranganathan (2016), “Process guidelines for establishing Intercoder Reliability in qualitative studies,” Qualitative Research, 16(2): 198-212, https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794115577012.

Mahase E. (2020), “Covid-19: WHO halts hydroxychloroquine trial to review links with increased mortality risk,” BMJ, 369, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2126.

Mehra M.R., S.S. Desai, F. Ruschitzka and A.N. Patel (2020), “RETRACTED: Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis,” The Lancet, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31180-6.

Ministero della Salute (2020), Circolare recante “Gestione domiciliare dei pazienti con infezione da SARS-CoV-2.”

Ministero della Salute (2021), Circolare recante “Gestione domiciliare dei pazienti con infezione da SARS-CoV-2” aggiornata al 26 aprile 2021.

Ministero della Salute (2022) Circolare recante ‘Gestione domiciliare dei pazienti con infezione da SARS-CoV-2’ aggiornamento del 10 febbraio 2022.

Montefiori S. (2020), Clorochina, nuovo santo graal sovranista (senza certezze). Retrieved May 3, 2022 (https://www.corriere.it/esteri/20_maggio_16/coronavirus-nuovo-santo-graal-sovranisti-clorochina-senza-prove-che-funzioni-d0bbdb4c-97b3-11ea-ba09-20ae073bed63.shtml).

NIH [National Institutes of Health] (2021), COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel. Coronavirus Disease 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2022 (https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/).

O’Connor C., J.O. Weatherall (2020), Hydroxychloroquine and the Political Polarization of Science. Retrieved May 3, 2022 (https://bostonreview.net/articles/cailin-oconnor-james-owen-weatherall-covid-19-and-polarization/).

Oreskes N., E.M. Conway (2010), Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. New York; Berlin; London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Osimani B. (2014), “Hunting Side Effects and Explaining Them: Should We Reverse Evidence Hierarchies Upside Down?” Topoi, 33(2): 295-312, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-013-9194-7.

Pavolini E., E. Kuhlmann, T.I. Agartan, V. Burau, R. Mannion, E. Speed (2018), “Healthcare governance, professions and populism: Is there a relationship? An explorative comparison of five European countries,” Health Policy, 122(10): 1140-1148, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.08.020.

Perico, N., Cortinovis, M., Suter, F., & Remuzzi, G. (2022), “Home as the new frontier for the treatment of COVID-19: the case for anti-inflammatory agents,” The Lancet. Infectious diseases, S1473-3099(22)00433-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00433-9

Pielke R.A. (2007), The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pierce C.S. (1960), Collected Papers. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Pontini E. (2020), Coronavirus, c’è un farmaco per curare i malati a casa. Ecco come funziona - Cronaca - lanazione.it. Retrieved June 8, 2022 (https://www.lanazione.it/umbria/cronaca/coronavirus-cure-1.5103889).

Quotidiano Sanità (2020), Coronavirus. L’appello di 100 mila medici a Governo e Regioni: “Pazienti vanno trattati il più presto possibile sul territorio.” Retrieved June 10, 2022 (https://www.quotidianosanita.it/lavoro-e-professioni/articolo.php?articolo_id=84198).

Santoro M. (2021), Il no-vax fa pure pubblicità. Retrieved June 8, 2022 (https://www.panorama.it/news/salute/no-vax-pubblicita-volantino-vaccino).

Schreier M. (2012), Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice. London: Sage.

Siddiqi H.K., M.R. Mehra (2020), “COVID-19 illness in native and immunosuppressed states: A clinical–therapeutic staging proposal,” The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, 39(5): 405-407, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2020.03.012.

Silverman D. (1993), Interpreting Qualitative Data. London: Sage

Singer M., N. Bulled, B. Ostrach and E. Mendenhall (2017), “Syndemics and the biosocial conception of health,” The Lancet, 389(10072): 941-950, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30003-X.

Sollenberger R. (2020), Google seems to be squelching searches for Trump’s ‘miracle’ drug after damning new study. Retrieved May 3, 2022 (https://www.salon.com/2020/05/27/google-may-be-suppressing-trump-hydroxychloroquine-searches-after-damning-new-study/).

Speed E., R. Mannion (2017), “The Rise of Post-truth Populism in Pluralist Liberal Democracies: Challenges for Health Policy,” International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 6(5): 249-251, https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2017.19.

Speed E., R. Mannion (2020), “Populism and health policy: three international case studies of right-wing populist policy frames,” Sociology of Health & Illness, 42(8): 1967-1981, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13173.

Suter F., E. Consolaro, S. Pedroni, C. Moroni, E. Pastò, M.V. Paganini, G. Pravettoni, U. Cantarelli, N. Rubis, N. Perico, A. Perna, T. Peracchi, P. Ruggenenti and G. Remuzzi (2021), “A simple, home-therapy algorithm to prevent hospitalisation for COVID-19 patients: A retrospective observational matched-cohort study,” eClinicalMedicine, 37: 100941, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100941.

Vandenbroucke J.P. (2008), “Observational Research, Randomised Trials, and Two Views of Medical Science,” PLOS Medicine, 5(3): e67, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050067.

Vincent M.J., E. Bergeron, S. Benjannet, B.R. Erickson, P.E. Rollin, T.G. Ksiazek, N.G. Seidah and S.T. Nichol (2005), “Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread,” Virology Journal, 2(69), https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-2-69.

Żuk P., P. Żuk (2020), “Right-wing populism in Poland and anti-vaccine myths on YouTube: Political and cultural threats to public health,” Global Public Health, 15(6): 790-804, https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1718733.


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
کاغذ a4
Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.