Hydroxychloroquine: Is Trump’s controversial drug really a game-changer in fight against coronavirus?

Why has the president continued promoting an unproven drug for coronavirus treatment?: EPA
Why has the president continued promoting an unproven drug for coronavirus treatment?: EPA

When Donald Trump doubled down on the benefits of hydroxychloroquine at the White House this weekend, the US president continued down the well-trodden path of wishing for a wonder cure to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’ll be wonderful, it’ll be so beautiful. It’ll be a gift from heaven if it works,” said Mr Trump on Saturday.

His critics point out that the sentiment is confused, having headed an administration that has been seemingly unprepared for the demand in personal protection equipment (PPE), slow to test, and arguably inconsistent in leadership.

With US cases of the virus nearing 370,000, and 11,000 deaths – at what could soon be the pandemic’s summit – anyone would be forgiven for wanting a “way out”, as Mr Trump described hydroxychloroquine at the weekend.

His own medical experts have, however, warned against widespread use of the anti-malarial drug to treat the coronavirus. “The evidence that you’re talking about … is anecdotal evidence.”, said Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top diseases expert, in March.

Another study conducted in Wuhan, China, did use a randomised control trial on patients, and reported that those with mild cases of the Covid-19 virus recovered before those without the treatment. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Despite Dr Fauci’s caution, president Trump used Twitter to say that the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin would “have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.”

Mr Trump’s championing of the unproven coronavirus treatment has continued, whilst debate about the drug has become a partisan point of contention.

As calls to find a cure for coronavirus increased at the end of March, hydroxychloroquine was approved by the FDA for use with critically ill coronavirus patients whilst clinical testing to prove the drug’s effectiveness against coronavirus is ongoing.

State health department officials at the epicentre of the US outbreak in New York confirmed this week that 4,000 patients had been administered with a dose of hydroxychloroquine.

Still, no drug comes without potential dangers. Diana Zuckerman, a drug safety expert at the National Center for Health Research, has said that “there is no evidence that these drugs will help people survive, and there is evidence that they can cause substantial harm, including blindness and heart failure,”

Until hydroxychloroquine is proven to be either safe or effective, medical experts including Dr Fauci are unlikely to support widespread use whilst president Trump encourages everyone to take it.

“So what do I know?” asked Mr Trump on Sunday, “I’m not a doctor.”

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