Despite warnings, Trump defends use of hydroxychloroquine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in late April against the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 “outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems.”
“Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19,” the FDA said in a release. “They are being studied in clinical trials for COVID-19.”
Separately, a study released by the U.S. Veterans Health Administration last month suggested the drug was ineffective in treating patients with COVID-19 and found that the two primary outcomes for patients treated with the drug were the need for mechanical ventilation and death.
Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told CNBC in an interview on Monday that he thinks doctors who were taking hydroxychloroquine “prophylactically” have pulled back.
“Because a lot of the subsequent data hasn’t been encouraging,” Gottlieb said. “We want this to work, but it doesn’t seem like it’s working, at least in the studies that we have right now.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday that Trump is taking hydroxychloroquine.
“I can absolutely confirm that,” McEnany said. “The president said himself he’s taking it. That’s a given fact. He said it. The president should be taken at his word.”
In another interview with Fox News, McEnany urged caution in using hydroxychloroquine.
“Any use of hydroxychloroquine has to be in consultation with your doctor. You have to have a prescription. That’s the way it must be done,” she said.
“The president has said pretty widely that this is a drug that he had looked at with optimism, but nevertheless he said that this is a decision that must be made with the doctor.”
Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that he is not taking hydroxychloroquine.
“My physician hasn’t recommended that, but I wouldn’t hesitate to take the counsel of my doctor. Any American should do likewise,” Pence told Fox News in an interview.
Source: Xinhua
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