FDA Revokes Emergency Use Authorization for Drug to Treat Coronavirus
Written by SOURCE on June 15, 2020
The United States Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine which President Trump backed as a treatment for COVID-19, Reuters reports.
The FDA revealed on Monday that it has new evidence to believe that the oral formulation for hydroxychloroquine and other chloroquine drugs are not effective in treating the respiratory problems created by the coronavirus.
In March, the President said that hydroxychloroquine had “a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine” if it was mixed with the antibiotic azithromycin to treat COVID-19. He even took the combination as preventative measures after two White House employees were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Yet at the time of his statement, scientists had little evidence to support Trump’s claims about the malaria medication. This forced them to conduct a widely anticipated trial earlier this month. The results of this test suggest that hydroxychloroquine failed to prevent respiratory infections for people who have been exposed to the virus.
As some states have begun their reopening processes, a second wave of coronavirus cases has started to sweep the nation. This has led some physicians to believe that another nationwide shut down could be on the horizon.
“We’re going to have to face the harsh reality in some states that we may need to shut down again,” a professor at George Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, told CNN.
Another shut down could have a catastrophic impact on the economy. To prevent this, health officials are scrambling to find an accepted treatment for the illness.
“We can’t shut down the economy again,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained. “I think we’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage. And not just economic damage, but … medical problems and everything else that get put on hold.”
