The FDA has issued a statement clarifying the chloroquine situation. Trump wrongly said the anti-malaria drug was approved for coronavirus. The FDA statement says there is no approved coronavirus treatment. 1/
The FDA says:
- It's working with govt/academic entities already studying chloroquine for coronavirus
- It will continue to grant emergency compassionate use requests for another drug Trump mentioned, remdesivir, "but controlled clinical trials are needed" to test safety 2/
- It's working with govt/academic entities already studying chloroquine for coronavirus
- It will continue to grant emergency compassionate use requests for another drug Trump mentioned, remdesivir, "but controlled clinical trials are needed" to test safety 2/
- Hahn:: If chloroquine works for coronavirus, demand will increase; they'll "take all steps" to keep it available to "patients who take it to treat severe and life-threatening illnesses such as lupus.” They want makers to ramp up production to mitigate any supply pressures 3/
Hahn: This situation is urgent, but “we also must ensure these products are effective; otherwise we risk treating patients with a product that might not work when they could have pursued other, more appropriate, treatments." 4/4
One more thing: as Trump said, chloroquine is approved for other uses like malaria. So doctors can legally prescribe it for unapproved coronavirus use if they want - contrary to Trump's claim, nothing was sped up to make it available. And it's not "approved" for coronavirus.
