(Bloomberg) – Hospitals must stop using anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 patients, even if it is in a clinical trial, according to new medical guidelines.
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This photo taken on April 27, 2020 shows a supplier of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets at a pharmacy in Amritsar. India has increased revenues from an anti-malarial drug grown by US President Donald Trump as a “game changer” in the fight against coronavirus, even though its pharmaceutical industry is struggling to find other important drugs in a to make lockdown. (Photo by NARINDER NANU / AFP) / To deal with AFP STORY Health Virus India Pharmaceutical by Bhuvan Bagga and Vishal Manve (Photo by NARINDER NANU / AFP via Getty Images)
The Infectious Diseases Society of America revised its Covid-19 treatment guidelines Friday, strengthening its position against the use of the anti-malarial medication widely advocated by President Donald Trump as a way to deal with the pandemic.
IDSA now recommends that hydroxychloroquine not be used by itself or in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin for patients with coronavirus, even in hospitals. The company previously called for limited use of hydroxychloroquine in trials.
“The panel of IDSA experts concluded that benefits of higher certainty (e.g., reduction of mortality) for the use of these treatments are now highly unlikely, even if additional high-quality data would become available,” the group said in a statement.
Earlier, a panel recommended the National Institutes of Health against the use of hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin, except in a clinical trial, because of an increased risk of heartbeat. The agency stopped its own clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine in June.
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