WHO Pauses Hydroxychloroquine Study Amid Concerns Over Drug’s Safety
by Nicholas ReimannTOPLINE
A World Health Organization study examining hydroxychloroquine — the controversial anti-malarial drug President Donald Trump says he’s taken to ward off coronavirus — has stopped amid safety concerns of prescribing the drug as a treatment for the virus.
KEY FACTS
For now, a trial looking into the effectiveness of the drug in treating coronavirus has been suspended temporarily, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday, while adding the drug is still generally seen as safe in treating malaria.
The announcement comes after the medical journal The Lancet published a paper linking hydroxychloroquine to an increased risk of death and heart problems compared with those who are not taking the drug, with Ghebreyesus citing the paper as a reason for suspending the trial.
The paper came soon after the medical publication wrote a scathing editorial criticizing Trump’s response to the pandemic, saying “health should not be guided by partisan politics.”
Trump himself had been taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative treatment against the coronavirus, saying Sunday he had “just finished” a two-week trial.
Trump has repeatedly defended hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment, saying earlier this month “what do you have to lose?” by taking the drug.
KEY BACKGROUND
Use of the drug to treat coronavirus first came to prominence in March, after a small trial from a French doctor showed that the drug may have had some positive effect in treating coronavirus. Despite skepticism from much of the medical community, a rush for the drug then ensued around the world, leading to shortages. Before Monday, the drug was part of a handful that were being used as part of a “Solidarity Trial” of drugs the WHO was testing as potential treatments for coronavirus. Questions continued regarding its effectiveness, though, with the recent paper — taking results from over 96,000 patients in 671 hospitals — perhaps the most comprehensive look yet.
CRITICAL QUOTE
“The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the safety data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board,” Ghebreyesus said, adding that “the other arms of the trial are continuing.”
WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
Ghebreyesus didn’t say how long the study might be shelved for, or how long it might take to determine whether hydroxychloroquine is safe to return to trials.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Remdesivir, Lopinavir/Ritonavir and Lopinavir/Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a — these are the drugs still being studied by the WHO as part of its “Solidarity” clinical trial.
FURTHER READING
Hydroxychloroquine: Trump's Covid-19 'cure' increases deaths, global study finds (The Guardian)
All The Times Trump Has Promoted Hydroxychloroquine (Forbes)