The Hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent or treat COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised this week. The anti-inflammatory drug was once put forward by former President Donald Trump, who said he was take the treatment to prevent coronavirus last year.
A panel of WHO experts found that the drug had no significant effect on coronavirus deaths or hospitalizations. They added that it can even increase the risk of adverse effects.
With great certainty, ‘the guideline development panel has made a strong recommendation against the use of hydroxychloroquine for individuals who do not have covid-19’, the panel wrote on Tuesday in the peer-reviewed medical journal The BMJ.
“The panel judged that almost all people would not consider this drug worthwhile.”
The evidence came from six randomized controlled trials involving more than 6,000 people – with and without the known exposure to the virus.
The panel said hydroxychloroquine is no longer considered a research priority, and that researchers should refocus their efforts on other promising preventative drugs. It added that the more than 80 trials planned to enroll at least 100,000 participants for further investigation of hydroxychloroquine are unlikely to turn up any benefits, and this should be canceled.
The drug, which is used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, gained notoriety when Mr. Trump and other members of his government have strongly promoted it. The former president contracted the virus in October, and received an unauthorized monoclonal antibody treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center.
The FDA initially issued emergency use permits for the drug in March. It withdrew the authorization in June, after it was determined that the drug was unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19 for authorized use. ”
Federal regulators have previously warned against the use of hydroxychloroquine, except in hospitals and formal studies, because of the risk of side effects, especially heart rhythm problems.