President Donald Trump claimed Monday that he’s been taking hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug he’s been touting as a potential coronavirus cure, for a couple of weeks in hopes of preventing COVID-19.
“You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers before you catch it. ... I happen to be taking it,” the president said at a roundtable with restaurant executives. “I’ve heard a lot of good stories,” Trump, who says he has not tested positive for the coronavirus, continued. “And if it is not good, I will tell you right. I’m not going to get hurt by it.”
That is not guaranteed. Not only is there is no known evidence that the drug works in COVID-19 cases, but it has potentially serious side effects, including the possibility that it may alter a patient’s heartbeat in a way that could lead to sudden death.
The Food and Drug Administration warned against its use in coronavirus cases except for in formal studies in late April, citing that serious heart risk, after Trump claimed it may be “one of the biggest game-changers in the history of medicine” and began mentioning it on a near-daily basis.
Since then, a study of 1,400 patients at Columbia University in New York found that hydroxychloroquine did not lower the risk of dying or needing a breathing tube. Likewise, there is also no proof that the drug can prevent infection.
Trump has also bucked public health guidance by not wearing a mask at public gatherings despite two people who work in the White House falling ill with the virus in recent weeks.
Congratulations to the president on calling the nation to pray.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the uk will follow suit.