In a desperate attempt to find a cure for coronavirus, which is claiming several lives around the world, US President Donald Trump in a press conference held recently stated that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine drugs used to treat malaria and severe arthritis, were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test as a COVID-19 coronavirus treatment.
Trump told reporters, "It's been around for a long time so we know if things don't go as planned it's not going to kill anybody."
He added that barriers need to be removed and we feel that there is finally some good news. The drugs will be used in a clinical trial, according to FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, who spoke during the press briefing.
Word of caution
Dr. Hahn, however, added that it is more important for people to know that there should be no false hope and the above-stated drug is still not a proven cure for coronavirus. He added that it is still not known how much harm or good the drug will do for coronavirus.
In other words, the drug is not approved broadly, as Trump initially said, but will be given to patients only after a doctor requests it, and primarily for the purpose of studying its effects and before data is available to certify that it works and is safe.
It should, however, be noted that the drug is already in use in South Korea and China and if its recently initiated clinical trial in the US and data on the compassionate use of patients in the US prove that it's safe, the drug could be used broadly in America.
If early evidence from human cells is looked at, there are bright chances that chloroquine, which is used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases, may have some activity against the novel coronavirus.
The drug has been experimented upon by doctors in China, the US and others on Covid-19 patients, but sufficient clinical evidence is still not present about its effectiveness in humans.
The drug, generally considered to be safe for most patients, can have side effects including seizures, nausea, vomiting, deafness, vision changes, and low blood pressure.
The latest is that Trump wrote in a Tweet on Sunday morning that 'HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.'
He continued that 'The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH...be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!'
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