Experts with the World Health Organization said recently the drug hydroxychloroquine — once touted by former President Donald Trump as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus — shouldn’t be used to treat COVID-19.
What’s going on?
A panel of WHO experts said the drug had no meaningful impact on deaths or hospitalizations due to the coronavirus, and it could even increase the risk of severe effects, CBS News reports. The panel reviewed its findings in the BMJ medical journal, which is peer-reviewed.
- The panel wrote: “The guideline development panel made a strong recommendation against the use of hydroxychloroquine for individuals who do not have COVID-19.”
- “The panel judged that almost all people would not consider this drug worthwhile.”
The researchers reviewed six different control trials of more than 6,000 people who had been exposed and hadn’t been exposed to the novel coronavirus, according to CBS News.
Flashback
During the early days of the pandemic, former Trump touted the use of hydroxychloroquine despite “medical concerns the unproven treatment could spark misuse of a medication with potentially fatal side effects,” according to The Associated Press.
- Trump said he even took the drug himself, which “caught many in his administration by surprise and set off an urgent effort by officials to justify his action,” per the AP. Trump said he took it after some White House staffers tested positive for COVID-19.
- “I started taking it, because I think it’s good,” Trump said. “I’ve heard a lot of good stories.”
In June 2020, researchers in the United Kingdom said hydroxychloroquine didn’t help with COVID-19 cases, either, per The Associated Press.