# FDA approves emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for covid-19 treatment **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 30, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682 "2020-03-30T18:20:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/1 "2020-03-30T18:20:02Z")
> **[FDA approves emergency use of malaria pill for COVID-19 treatment](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-malaria-pill-for-covid-19-treatment-133908197.html)** > > The Food and Drug Administration approved the anecdotally promising malaria drug for emergency use to treat hospitalized patients for Covid-19. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/2 "2020-03-30T18:49:03Z")
> [@](#): > > {…} In a statement, HHS reiterated the drug still only has anecdotal evidence to support its efficacy. > > “\*\*Anecdotal \*\*reports \*\*suggest \*\*that these drugs \*\*may \*\*offer \*\*some \*\*benefit in the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Clinical trials are needed to provide scientific evidence that these treatments are effective,” according to the statement. {…} That’s a lot of ‘weasel words’ for one sentence. I hope people notice their presence. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/3 "2020-03-30T19:07:19Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > That’s a lot of ‘weasel words’ for one sentence. I hope people notice their presence. > > CMC fnord! I agree with you, except I wouldn’t use the term “weasel words”. The FDA (unlike, say, the president of the USA) isn’t trying to deceive anyone. They’ve approved it for emergency use, which I take to mean cases where the patient is likely to die without treatment. Hopefully it won’t deprive patients dependent on it for conventional on-label use like lupus, as the US has received major donations of hydroxychloroquine and, to a lesser extent, chloroquine, for experimental use in treating extreme cases of COVID-19. My understanding is that hydroxychloroquine is the less toxic of the two. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/4 "2020-03-30T19:16:48Z")
‘Weasel words’ for my lack of thinking of anything better. I’m just not at all happy that they’re doing anything that’s, almost certainly, going to put doctors in the position of having to explain, multiple times an hour, why they don’t think prescribing a chloroquine is indicated for the treatment of your/your loved one’s Covid. What the FDA just did is NOT helping anyone. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/5 "2020-03-30T19:18:14Z")
I agree **CMC**. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/6 "2020-03-30T19:25:05Z")
As discussed in another thread, doctors can prescribe any medicine for any use. The FDA only has purview over “promotion.” A drug company can’t tell doctors that Viagra treats the common cold without studies, data, and FDA approval. But a doctor can use Viagra for that purpose if he/she believes it to be effective. The doc will be accountable- if the drug somehow harms the patient then at the least he could be on the hook for malpractice. Why this matters is that docs could be (and probably have been) using CQ, especially in cases where they’re in the “can’t hurt” space. And the medical community will communicate among themselves how effective these treatments are (I mean, we’re not in some esoteric rare disease here). So agree, sometimes something like this can hurt, when people start demanding their doctor give them a certain drug or start drinking fish tank cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/7 "2020-03-30T19:46:15Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > What the FDA just did is NOT helping anyone. Yes it is. It’s helping doctors use an experimental drug in what would otherwise be unauthorized off-label use in a last-ditch effort to save lives, without the risk of being sued for malpractice. It also helps to establish a statistical baseline of efficacy. It would be stupid only if it was magical thinking for which there was no evidence whatsoever, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/8 "2020-03-30T20:02:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > {…} for which there was no evidence whatsoever, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here. So, can you point me to this ‘evidence’? I’ll remind you, The Plural of Anecdote Is Not Evidence. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/9 "2020-03-30T20:15:34Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > So, can you point me to this ‘evidence’? > > I’ll remind you, The Plural of Anecdote Is Not Evidence. > > CMC fnord! Here. This is a randomized trial with 62 patients. Using hydroxychloroquine the results look very promising. > **[Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a...](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.22.20040758v1)** > > Aims Studies have indicated that chloroquine (CQ) shows antagonism against COVID-19 in vitro . However, evidence regarding its effects in patients is limited. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of... ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/10 "2020-03-30T20:23:13Z")
Twitter took down Laura Ingraham’s tweet about it when it turned out the doctor on her show who claimed to be employed at the hospital where the miraculous cure was taking place doesn’t really work there. > **[Twitter: Laura Ingraham tweet broke rules against coronavirus misinformation](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/30/twitter-laura-ingraham-coronavirus-misinformation-155731)** > > Ingraham tweeted praise for hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug championed by the president as a potential treatment for the virus. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/11 "2020-03-30T20:42:15Z")
Of course ICUs and specialists should be able to throw a Hail Mary and conduct supervised testing on anything that might work when alternatives are few. The FDA should allow this. But they should not allow anybody to use drugs needed for other conditions, when their margin of safety is very small, resistance might develop, people may hoard or use irresponsibly and/or efficacy is not systematically measured. ---
**Author:** ![taiven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/258eb7/32.png) [@taiven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taiven)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/12 "2020-03-30T21:03:00Z")
I’m trying to take the optimistic approach and think that it actually is a very effective medicine. Hopefully behind closed doors officials know more about how effective it is but don’t want to make any public statements saying so until they are absolutely sure. It sucks that the dangers of this whole pandemic have to be overstated to get the publics attention. There’s no choice though where the worst case scenario is so bad we have to play it safe. I dont think anyone really believes the death toll in the US will be in the hundreds of thousands. If making bold statements is the only way to make people change their behavior I guess there’s no other way. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/13 "2020-03-30T21:04:38Z")
They are apparently using this protocol on my stepmom, who is in the ICU on a ventilator (and who has lupus anyway, though Dad says she doesn’t normally use either of these drugs). She is apparently improving slowly. She is at one of the top hospitals in NYC, if not the country, so I am quite confident they are weighing the risks and potential benefits appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/14 "2020-03-30T22:39:55Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > Here. This is a randomized trial with 62 patients. Using hydroxychloroquine the results look very promising. > > [https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.22.20040758v1](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.22.20040758v1) :dubious: > [@](#): > > This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice. > [@](#): > > Aims: Studies have indicated that chloroquine (CQ) shows antagonism against COVID-19 in vitro. However, evidence regarding its effects in patients is limited. Incidentally what I see is mostly an improvement of the symptoms and a shortening of time one is sick; however, the impression I got from Trump and many on the right wing media is that this was supposed to be a **cure** … As the study suggests, it may help with the symptoms and maybe to give time to other treatments to lead to a recovery, but helping people to feel better is not the same as being a cure. There are still a lot of concerns and consequences that leaders in the USA and other places continue to miss regarding the early reports. [https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2764065/rush-judgment-rapid-reporting-dissemination-results-its-consequences-regarding-use](https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2764065/rush-judgment-rapid-reporting-dissemination-results-its-consequences-regarding-use) > [@](#): > > Despite the study’s substantial limitations, a simplification and probable overinterpretation of these findings was rapidly disseminated by the lay press and amplified on social media, ultimately endorsed by many government and institutional leaders. Public interest in HCQ rapidly grew (Figure). The study’s findings were extrapolated to include the use of HCQ to prevent COVID-19 infection or as postexposure prophylaxis, indications for which there are currently no direct supporting data. Despite promising in vitro data for influenza (7, 8), HCQ failed to prevent infection in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial (9). Efforts to understand the clinical efficacy of HCQ as postexposure prophylaxis are under way ([ClinicalTrials.gov](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04308668)), which should yield important insight into this issue. > > A major consequence has been an inadequate supply of HCQ for patients in whom efficacy is established. Hydroxychloroquine is an essential treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and of systemic lupus erythematosus, reducing flares and preventing organ damage in the latter disease (10). Pharmacies have reported shortages of antimalarials ([www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/20/hospitals-doctors-are-wiping-out-supplies-an-unproven-coronavirus-treatment](http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/20/hospitals-doctors-are-wiping-out-supplies-an-unproven-coronavirus-treatment)), and patients with rheumatic diseases have had difficulty obtaining prescription refills. Several major medical organizations released a joint statement regarding the HCQ shortage ([www.lupus.org/s3fs-public/pdf/Joint-Statement-on-HCQ-LFA-ACR-AADA-AF.pdf](http://www.lupus.org/s3fs-public/pdf/Joint-Statement-on-HCQ-LFA-ACR-AADA-AF.pdf)), warning of possible dire consequences for patients with rheumatic diseases. > > **Hydroxychloroquine shortages could place these patients at risk for severe and even life-threatening flares; some may require hospitalization when hospitals are already at capacity. Until reliable evidence is generated and adequate supply chains have been put in place, rational use of HCQ in patients with COVID-19 must be emphasized, such as use in investigational studies.** > > In critical situations, large randomized controlled trials are not always feasible or ethical, and critically ill patients may need to be treated empirically during times of uncertainty. However, it is our responsibility as clinicians, researchers, and patient partners to promote proper and rigorous interpretation of results, particularly in our interactions with the nonscientific community. We must consider the societal implications of published work in these unprecedented times. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/15 "2020-03-31T00:31:08Z")
**GIGO** , I have no disagreement with the concluding sentence in your last quote, which is consistent with everything I’ve said (emphasis mine): > [@](#): > > … **critically ill patients may need to be treated empirically during times of uncertainty**. However, it is our responsibility as clinicians, researchers, and patient partners to promote proper and rigorous interpretation of results, particularly in our interactions with the nonscientific community. We must consider the societal implications of published work in these unprecedented times. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/16 "2020-03-31T02:01:12Z")
I just posted this in another thread on the subject. I actually meant to post it here So Laura Ingraham tweeted about this treatment, and she had to pull the tweet because she had misrepresented the credentials of the doctor - I gather she had made it sound like he was a doctor on the front lines actually treating coronavirus patients, when in fact he was a doctor in a different specialty (oncology) that was affiliated with Lenox Hill. > **[Malaria drugs touted by Trump can work against coronavirus, top doc tells...](https://www.foxnews.com/media/malaria-drugs-touted-by-trump-can-work-against-coronavirus-top-doc-tells-laura-ingraham)** > > Data show that anti-malaria drugs touted by President Trump can help in treating coronavirus patients, a top oncologist said Friday on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle." Then I found this article about the incident and had a very personal WTF moment. Because this is the same doctor that, in 2004, sold my dying fiancé on some revolutionary test that was going to come up with an individualized chemo regime that would put his stage 4 cancer into remission. It didn’t work. This person is the reason for my interest in and skepticism about early stage medical breakthroughs. He’s not the reason for my skepticism now, of course. My interest in the subject has left me lots of other reasons to be skeptical. But it started with him. Small world, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/17 "2020-03-31T02:11:29Z")
So I have a bag of cinchona bark that I was going to use to make tonic water. Could I use it to make my own quinine and treat myself and others in a pinch? (FWIW, I think I’ve already had the virus and am getting over it right now…) ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fda-approves-emergency-use-of-hydroxychloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/850682/18 "2020-03-31T11:34:08Z")
30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine donated Sandoz. This is an addition to the 1 million doses donated by Bayer. Folks are stepping up. Link [https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/03/29/hhs-accepts-donations-of-medicine-to-strategic-national-stockpile-as-possible-treatments-for-covid-19-patients.html](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/03/29/hhs-accepts-donations-of-medicine-to-strategic-national-stockpile-as-possible-treatments-for-covid-19-patients.html)