CFM says Bolsonaro does not recommend hydroxychloroquine, but releases revenue in 3 cases | Coronavirus

1. When the patient is in critical condition, hospitalized in intensive care, with established lung injury. Hydroxychloroquine can be used by doctors “out of compassion.” This occurs when the patient no longer has therapeutic possibilities and the doctor, with family authorization, uses the substance;
2. When the patient, with symptoms of covid-19, arrives at the hospital. There is a time of viral replication when the doctor can use the medicine with the authorization of the patient and his family;
3. When the patient has mild symptoms, similar to the common flu. In this case, the doctor can use hydroxychloroquine, ruling out the possibility that the patient has: influenza A or B, dengue or H1N1. Also in this case, the decision must be shared with the patient.

“The Federal Council of Medicine does not recommend the use of hydroxychloroquine. What we are doing is giving the Brazilian doctor the right, together with his patient, in a decision shared with his patient, to use this medication. An authorization. It is not a recommendation. “said CFM President Mauro Luiz de Britto Ribeiro.

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Hydroxychloroquine is already used in the treatment of malaria (see more details on the drug below). President Jair Bolsonaro is an advocate for the use of covid-19. The issue was one of the reasons for the divergence that led to the resignation of the former Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta.

According to Ribeiro, “there is no solid scientific evidence” on the effectiveness of the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of covid-19.

“The position is that there is no solid scientific evidence to support the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of covid-19. It is a medicine widely used for other diseases for 70 years, but in relation to the treatment of covid-19, there is no prospective, randomized clinical trial, conducted by groups of respected researchers, with work published in major journals, that points to any kind of benefit, “he said.

Ribeiro explained that there are observational studies on the drug, with “little scientific value”, but that are considered “important”. Therefore, the CFM has launched the use in specific cases.

CFM does not release preventive use

The CFM president also noted that “there are no indications” for the use of hydroxychloroquine as a way to prevent coronavirus.

“There is no indication of the preventive use of hydroxychloroquine in relation to covid-19. This is a consensus in any literature in the world and this is also the position of the Federal Council of Medicine. Without preventive use, “stressed Ribeiro.

Ribeiro stated that the use was only released due to the pandemic and that, in other situations, “very probable”, the entity would not authorize the application of the drug.

“There are side effects, they are serious, but they are rare. And there are countless observational reports in the literature. ”

“We cannot ignore this information at this time, due to the sui generis that we are experiencing due to a totally unknown disease. In other situations, CFM, almost certainly CFM, will most likely not allow the use of the drug, except on an experimental basis. But in the face of this devastating disease, the option was to give a little more value to the observation aspect of several doctors, important doctors, serious doctors who have been using this medicine, ”he added.

Hydroxychloroquine research

Chloroquine, or hydroxychloroquine, is a drug already approved for the treatment of other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and malaria. However, there is still no research to show the effectiveness of this drug against covid-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, and what are the safe levels of administration of this substance.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that no medication has yet been shown to be safe and effective against covid-19. In Brazil, the Ministry of Health has published a protocol that indicates the use of chloroquine for severe and moderate patients.

In mid-March, a study by infectious disease specialist Didier Raoult of the University of Medicine in Marseille, France, with 30 patients, pinpointed a possible use of the drug. But the methodology has been criticized by experts.

The controversy led to the drug being included in the European program of clinical studies against Covid-19, called Discovery. France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands will test 3.2 thousand patients with hydroxychloroquine and three antivirals used against HIV and Ebola.

Doctors recommend that the population not self-medicate with these or other drugs. The first news about the drug led to a shortage and caused Anvisa to put the drug on the list of controlled drugs.