US pull out emergency use of hydroxychloroquine
Emergency use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for Covid-19 has been halt by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA said that new proofs from clinical trials meant that it was no longer useful to believe that the drug would produce an antiviral effect.
US President Donald Trump later back- it promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment of Covid-19.
In March, the FDA granted the emergency use of the drug for some serious cases.
But on Monday, the agency said clinical studies had suggested that hydroxychloroquine was ineffective in treating the deadly virus and failed to prevent infection among those exposed to it.
Responding to the FDA’s decision, Mr Trump said that he had previously taken the drug preventatively with no side effects.
“I took it and I felt good about taking it,” he told reporters on Monday, adding: “I can’t complain about it, I took it for two weeks, and I’m here, here we are.”
The 74-year-old president said that many people had told him it had saved their lives.
The results prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) and others to halt trials over safety concerns.
Nevertheless, The Lancet recently retracted the study when it was found to have serious shortcomings and the WHO has restart its trials.
Source___BBC News