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This title is misleading. They didn't halt the trial, they halted one treatment arm (the arm with a very high dose). They continued with the 'low' dose (2.7g - about the same dose as used to treat malaria). The high dose was over 4x more of the drug, at 12g.

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I haven't looked farther than the linked article, but assuming their reporting is accurate:

> However, higher dose use of chloroquine (600 milligrams as opposed to 450 milligrams) was stopped after just six days, after 11 of patients who were given the greater dose died.

To me that reads as an increase of about 1.35x rather than 4x.

600 mg chloroquine twice daily for 10 days or total dose 12g

450 mg for 5 days, twice daily only on the first day, or total dose 2.7 g

That 600mg part of the study ended at 6 days. The potential total dose in a future that didn't happen seems irrelevant.

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