HealthDay Reports: WHO Halts Testing of Drug That President Trump Has Embraced
The World Health Organization has paused testing on hydroxychloroquine after a study published last week found people who took the drug were more likely to die.
WHO Halts Testing of Drug That President Trump Has Embraced
TUESDAY, May 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Safety concerns over a malaria drug that President Donald Trump has touted as a coronavirus treatment prompted the World Health Organization on Monday to remove the medication from a global trial of potential COVID-19 therapies.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the international health agency's director-general, said the WHO decided to take a "pause" in testing hydroxychloroquine after a study published last week in The Lancet medical journal found people who took the drug were more likely to die, The New York Times reported. Several other studies have found the medication has no benefit and could possibly harm COVID-19 patients.
Still, Trump said on Sunday he had just finished taking a two-week course of the malaria drug to guard against COVID-19 infection after two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus.