According to a new recommendation from the World Health Organization, the anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent COVID-19.
Multiple clinical trials with more than 6,000 people showed that the drug had no significant effect on death or hospitalizations in people who had no exposure to COVID-19.
The trials showed a “moderate certainty” that hydroxychloroquine not only had a significant effect on the COVID-19 infection, but also increased the risk of adverse effects.
The WHO’s recommendation was: published in The BMJ, a medical journal. A WHO panel of experts is studying various drugs that can be used to prevent COVID-19 infection, and the recommendation of hydroxychloroquine is the first that the panel has published.
“The panel considers that this drug is no longer a research priority and that resources should be used to evaluate other more promising drugs to prevent COVID-19,” the WHO said in a statement.
The recommendations are intended ‘to provide reliable guidance on the management of COVID-19 and to assist physicians in making better decisions with their patients’, the WHO said.
Hydroxychloroquine was initially approved as an antimalarial drug, and is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
The drug gained notoriety after former President Trump
Donald Trump Sacha Baron Cohen exclaims ‘danger of lies, hatred and conspiracies’ in Golden Globes speech. Sorkin uses the quote from Abbie Hoffman to condemn violence in the Capitol: Democracy is ‘something you do’., members of his administration and his supporters have constantly promoted it as a miracle cure for COVID-19 and as a preventative, despite little evidence.
Last year, Trump said he took hydroxychloroquine, in combination with zinc, to prevent COVID-19 after a White House staffer was diagnosed with the disease.
Trump finally contracted COVID-19 in October and has largely recovered through the use of a monoclonal antibody treatment that was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration at the time.
The promotion by Trump and his allies resulted in the drug, leading to shortages for patients who needed it. Some states are still trying to deal with stocks acquired during the spring of the hydroxychloroquine craze.
The FDA issued an emergency permit for the drug last year and outside observers feel the agency has bowed to political pressure.
The authorization was eventually withdrawn in June due to serious security issues. The agency cited that clinical trials do not prove that the drug can be effective in treating or preventing COVID-19 in exposed people, and that the potential benefits do not outweigh the risks.
A separate study by the National Institutes of Health found that hydroxychloroquine has no benefit to patients in the hospital.