DON MEDICATION
Trump taking malaria drug hydroxychloroquine daily after touting it as coronavirus treatment – despite FDA warning
DONALD Trump revealed he has been taking a hydroxychloroquine pill every day for over a week to stave off coronavirus.
The president said he'd been taking it for a "couple of weeks" after receiving a letter from a doctor based in Westchester, who supposedly used it to treat over 300 patients.
Though the drug was the first to be approved, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have since issued due to the increased risk of heart problems.
Recent studies have shown hydroxychloroquine is not effective in treating coronavirus, despite some early indications which prompted the President to order the purchase of 29 million doses of the drug.
Trump appeared to brush off these concerns and revealed he took it, along with zinc.
"I started taking it, because I think it’s good. I’ve heard a lot of good stories," said the President.
"Frontline workers take it, a lot of doctors take it, I take it.
"I'm not going to get hurt by it, it's been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus. I'm taking the two - the zinc and the hydroxyl. So far I seem to be okay.
"I hope to be able to not take it soon because I hope they come up with some answer but I think people should be allowed to [take it]. I take a pill every day. At some point I'll stop.”
The president revealed that White House doctor Sean Conley had prescribed it for him after he inquired about the potential treatment, also used to treat .
Dr Conley said him and the President had discussed the potential benefits and dangers of taking the drug.
"After numerous discussions, he and I regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from the treatment outweighed the relative risk," he said in a statement released by the White House.
Miracle cure? What is hydroxychloroquine?
THE drug, which is typically used to treat malaria, has become the first to be approved to treat coronavirus in the US.
Hydroxychloroquine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is available for prescription.
However, there are doubts about the anti-malarial drug's effectiveness - and safety.
The Food and Drug Administration warned health professionals last month that the drug should not be used to treat COVID-19 outside of hospital or research settings, due to sometimes fatal side effects.
Regulators issued the alert for the drug, which can also be used to treat lupus and arthritis, after receiving reports of heart-rhythm problems, including deaths, from poison control centers and other health providers.
Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine.
Two new ones published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion.
The President insists that recommendations from word-of-mouth from medics he spoke to over the phone was proof enough.
"Here's my evidence," he said, insisting he was not exposed to the virus despite . "I get a lot of positive calls about it."
But physicians have expressed concern about the news that the President is taking hydroxychloroquine.
Dr. William Schaffner told The Washington Post: "I certainly would not recommend that people in the U.S. ask their physicians to prescribe hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of Covid. Its use is entirely speculative."
Following the admission House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also expressed her surprise about the 73-year-old President’s use of the drug.
“He's our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists,” she told CNN.
“Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, what is morbidly obese, they say. So, I think that it's not a good idea.”
Even Fox News host Neil Cavuto expressed surprise at Trump's revelation.
"It will kill you. I cannot stress enough."
He added: "This is a leap that should not be taken casually by those watching at home, or assuming, well the president of the United States says it's OK...I only make this not to make a political point here, but a life-and-death point. Be very, very careful."
Mounting evidence shows this anti-malaria drug isn't effective in fighting coronavirus.
Recent studies published in the and the New England Journal of Medicine both concluded that hydroxychloroquine can't treat COVID-19.
Trump had previously stopped Dr Anthony Fauci during an April press briefing after the US brought 29 million doses of it.
The was reportedly concerned that the drug had not been proven to work — which Trump acknowledged "might be correct, it might be false."
Recent studies carried out in New York, France and China have also found not benefit from hydroxychloroquine when it comes to tackling the coronavirus.
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In April, the National Institutes of Health launched a study testing hydroxychloroquine versus a placebo drug in 500 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Last week, NIH announced another study to see if hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin can prevent hospitalization or death in people with mild to moderate illness.
About 2,000 US adults with confirmed coronavirus infections and symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath will get the drugs or placebo pills.
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