Steroids cut Covid-19 death rates, but it may not be good news for everyone

Based on the studies to date, hospitalized patients with Covid-19 pneumonia and requiring oxygen should be started on a low-dose course of steroids

New studies show that treating critically ill Covid-19 patients with inexpensive steroids can cut their risk of dying from the illness by a third. The results are so clear that the World Health Organization changed its advice on Sept. 2 and now strongly recommends corticosteroids as a first-line treatment for the sickest patients.

Steroids aren’t risk-free, however. They can have side effects, and they could do more harm than good in patients with milder cases of Covid-19.

I am a pulmonologist and critical care physician and co-author of one of