Further to this article we performed an extensive literature review, which depicted many other studies dealing with the same topic, that were published in good quality peer-reviewed journals. But regrettably, they were not considered by the authors despite (as they have stated) having performed an extensive research of the papers, as mentioned in their material and methods section (1).
The essence of a systematic review is to take into account all the data in order to make a rigorous open and fair -minded synthesis on the topic. At least three meaningful studies that meet the inclusion / exlusion critria and were in favor of the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin on COVID-19 patients have been discarded (2) (3) (4) . This approach is more akin to cherry-picking than to a true systematic review without a priori considerations. 