Welcome to Axis ProRata, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision

of tech, business, and politics. I'm Dan Pramack. On today's show, new money for small businesses

and a way to help New York medical workers. But first, breaking down hydroxychloroquine.

So by now you have probably heard of this drug, hydroxychloroquine,

which has been around for decades, but the only people who really knew about it were doctors

and patients suffering from malaria or certain autoimmune diseases, like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.

It's not the sort of thing that they were Superobol ads about. But all of that changed a

couple weeks ago. After President Trump began hearing about

a very limited study in France that hydroxychloroquine could help treat people infected with COVID-19.

And then he and some of his associates have taken to suggesting it might be the answer that's been sitting right in front of our noses.

The trouble, of course, is that we just don't know yet if it works or not.

Yes, some people have used it and recovered. Other people didn't use it and recovered.

It's also possible that some people used it and still died. The science is just not yet known,

something that normal times would be widely accepted as the scientific process, but which today

has become a partisan

fault line. Why it matters, of course, is that a legitimate treatment would be the fastest way to

not only cure the sick, but also reopen our economy. But false promises can lead to false hopes

and divert our attention from other possible treatments. So to break it down, I am joined by Axios

healthcare reporter Bob Herman. Let's start here with the science of

this. We obviously have heard lots of anecdotes from the president, from cable talk show hosts and from

patients who have recovered or not. Can you help us here pull out the science from the anecdotes a bit

on the science? Where are we right now when it comes to hydroxychloroquine? I think it's just first worth noting that there are many other reporters who have covered

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