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HealthDay Reports: More Evidence That Trump-Touted Drugs Won't Curb COVID-19

A new research review on chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine — the antimalarial drugs President Donald Trump has promoted as coronavirus treatments — says that the drugs may dampen the body's immune defenses it needs to fight against COVID-19 and that human studies have not replicated the results seen in laboratory research.

More Evidence That Trump-Touted Drugs Won't Curb COVID-19

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Another study casts doubt on the malaria drugs touted by President Donald Trump as potential game-changers against COVID-19.

The drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, are also used for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. But Trump and others have promoted their use as treatments for the coronavirus that has sickened millions around the world.

Now, a research review in the May issue of the FASEB Journal questions their usefulness for COVID-19, saying human studies have not replicated results seen in laboratory research. The drugs may also dampen immune defenses needed to quell the coronavirus.

Those findings come on the heels of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning that the drugs are too dangerous for general use. According to the FDA, studies have shown that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine may trigger potentially fatal heart rhythm problems in COVID-19 patients.

Read the full HealthDay story.

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