The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have issued a safety warning about known side-effects of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, a medecine used to treat malaria. It is noteworthy that President Donald Trump has advocated the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of coronavirus.
Side-effects include severe and potentially fatal heart rhythm problems. The FDA states in the Drug Safety Communication that hydroxychloroquine are recommended for emergency use only for the treatment of corona virus-positive patients.
The FDA has stated that these risks have already been reported on the drug label and advised to use it for patients under the supervision of medical professionals during hospital or clinical trials. FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn stated that we understand that the health professional uses every possible treatment for their patient and we want to ensure that we provide them with the appropriate information to help them make better medical decisions. He said that clinical trials are currently underway to know the safety and effectiveness of these drugs for the treatment of Covid-19, but we should also pay attention to the known side effects of these drugs.
Hahn said that we encourage health professionals to make decisions based on individual patients. The FDA will continue to monitor and investigate these potential risks and disclose them publicly as more information becomes available.
The FDA states that it has so far permitted emergency use for the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine drugs for the treatment of severe patients infected with Covid-19. These drugs have been made available to states by SNS where doctors have been recommended to use them appropriately on juvenile and adult patients infected with Covid-19 when clinical trials are not available or feasible.
