For the first time, a therapy has been shown to possibly improve the survival odds for patients suffering from the most severe cases of COVID-19. In a large study, the steroid drug dexamethasone was shown to reduce deaths by a third in patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus. The full data has yet to be published. 

Some experts quickly celebrated the results. However, others including surgeon, writer and public health researcher Atul Gawande has urged caution. He responded by tweeting, “after all the retractions and walk backs, it is unacceptable to tout study results by press release without releasing the paper.”

Additional details can be found in this story published by STAT News.