Using AI to optimize Covid-19 therapy

The swift, destructive advance of Covid-19 has forced treating physicians to make some difficult choices: Do they gamble on an unproven therapy and hope for the best, or provide supportive care until data validates an effective treatment?

A randomized controlled trial is offering a third option, STAT’s Casey Ross reports — using artificial intelligence to help identify optimal treatments for desperately ill patients. The REMAP-CAP study is analyzing data on the outcomes from more than 50 hospitals, looking for answers to pressing questions — including whether the much-hyped antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine really works.