Free Republic

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning doctors against prescribing a malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus outside of hospitals or research settings. In an alert Friday, regulators flagged reports of serious side effects and death among patients taking hydroxychloroquine and the related drug chloroquine. The drugs, also prescribed for lupus, can cause a number of side effects, including heart rhythm problems, severely low blood pressure and muscle or nerve damage.

Shares of others in the race may lose momentum Companies working on COVID-19 treatment and prevention have seen their shares soar so far this year. Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) gained 44%, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN) rose 15%, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) climbed 9%, and Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO) soared 102%.These stocks may lose momentum if chloroquine becomes the "go-to" drug for COVID-19. As mentioned above, there is room for additional treatments, but if chloroquine gets the first-mover advantage, others that eventually enter probably will seize a smaller share of the market than hoped. The news also would burst the bubble of...

A senior US government doctor who worked on the search for a coronavirus vaccine has claimed he was fired after resisting Donald Trump’s push to use the unproven drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. Trump stops hyping hydroxychloroquine after study shows no benefit Read more Rick Bright was this week ousted as director of the US health department’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or Barda, and as the deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response. In a stunningly candid statement, Bright highlighted his refusal to embrace hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug relentlessly promoted by...

This week the Washington Post published a study that made the media downright giddy. A study on Veterans Affairs patients concluded that hydroxychloroquine was not all it's cracked up to be, as more COVID-19 patients died on the drug than not.  “An association of increased overall mortality was identified in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine alone,” the study concluded. “These findings highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomized, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs.”The reason so many reporters jumped on the study and confronted the White House task force with it, is because President Trump...

A doctor who was removed as head of the federal agency that is helping develop a vaccine for the coronavirus said he was ousted after he resisted widespread adoption of a drug promoted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for Covid-19. Dr. Rick Bright also said that he believed he was removed from his post because he insisted that "the billions of dollars allocated by Congress to address the Covid-19 pandemic" be put toward "safe and scientifically vetted solutions, and not in drugs, vaccines and other technologies that lack scientific merit." A doctor who was removed as head of...

An anti-malaria drug touted by President Trump as a potential "game changer" amid the coronavirus outbreak showed no benefit for patients, according to an analysis of those hospitalized in Veterans Health Administration medical centers. The analysis found the two primary outcomes for COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine were death and the need for mechanical ventilation.

A New York woman with coronavirus symptoms died last week after being prescribed a drug cocktail with known cardiac side effects, and family members say she was not tested for COVID-19 or for heart problems before receiving the medication. The family’s experience suggests that at least some physicians are prescribing hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin — drugs President Donald Trump has promoted to treat the coronavirus — outside of hospital settings, underscoring why major medical organizations including the American Heart Association have issued warnings about the drug’s potential to trigger heart arrhythmia in some patients. In early April, Ligia, a 65-year-old Queens...

A drug that’s been touted by President Donald Trump as a “game changer” didn’t help hospitalized patients with coronavirus and was associated with heart complications, according to a new study. “This provides evidence that hydroxychloroquine does not apparently treat patients with Covid 19,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Even worse, there were side effects caused by the drug — heart toxicities that required it be discontinued.” Trump has said that hydroxychloroquine shows “tremendous promise” and has made it sound like the drug is harmless. “I think it’s going to be great,” Trump...

The nation's leading cardiology associations urged caution with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for COVID-19 in patients with cardiovascular disease. "Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin have been touted for potential prophylaxis or treatment for COVID-19; both drugs are listed as definite causes of torsade de pointes" and increase in the risk of other arrhythmias and sudden death, the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Rhythm Society said in a joint statement April 8 in Circulation. The statement came amid ongoing promotion by the Trump administration of hydroxychloroquine, in particular, for COVID-19 despite lack of strong data. In addition to...

The drug doesn't come without a certain set of risks, and no one knows if it can effectively treat COVID-19. The president and some of his close advisors — desperate for a COVID-19 cure — are asking “What do you have to lose?” by taking hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a strong medication never adequately tested for efficacy or safety in COVID-19 patients. The correct answer to the president’s question, which he doesn’t seem to want to hear, is that we have our lives to lose.The president acknowledges “I’m not a doctor” but this raises the question “What do doctors know about the drug...

DENVER (CBS4)– Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette wants the FDA to look into the hoarding of drugs used to treat coronavirus. She said the prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine can take away the drugs from those who really need them. Hydroxychloroquine has been touted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 patients. There is a dispute among medical professionals about the effectiveness of the drug for coronavirus. Using it for coronavirus has also resulted in a huge demand and shortage.