The hydroxychloroquine debate intensified on Wednesday.
Amid deepening concerns about the safety of using the anti-malaria drug to treat coronavirus patients or protect them from Covid-19, three European nations took action.
France, Italy and Belgium all sought to halt use of the drug as a tool to fight the virus, as promoted by President Trump — who took it himself for a time, but recently quit.
The French health ministry was especially forceful, declaring that hydroxychloroquine “should not be prescribed for patients with Covid-19,” essentially banning its use by doctors. France also suspended clinical trials of the drug.
Italy suspended its previous authorization for doctors to use the drug outside clinical trials. Belgium issued a strong warning along the same lines.
“The sudden changes highlight the challenge for governments as they scramble to find ways to treat patients and control a virus that has spread rapidly around the world over the past three months, killing more than 350,000 and infecting millions,” reports the Reuters news agency.
“It also illustrates at least a temporary about-face for regulators on a drug that at the outset of the pandemic had been seen as a promising treatment option.”
As for the U.S., where the number of deaths topped 100,000 on Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tiptoed around the issue in an interview on CNN, saying he’s “not so sure” hydroxychloroquine should be banned.
Fauci’s caution is understandable since — as a key member of the White House coronavirus task force — he’s constantly in Trump’s crosshairs.
But he did tell CNN that the data shows that the drug could have dangerous side effects — and there’s no evidence it can help fight the virus.
“The scientific data is really quite evident now about the lack of efficacy for it,” Fauci said.
Fauci did take a clear stand opposing the president’s refusal to wear a mask, which Fauci has done at all recent public events.
“I want to protect myself and protect others and also because I want to make it be a symbol for people to see that’s the kind of thing you should be doing,” he said.
