France stops using hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 cases: Govt
PARIS: French doctors are no longer allowed to use hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID19 cases, according to new government rules Wednesday, after two French advisory bodies said the drug could pose serious health risks.
Use of the drug, normally a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, has proven controversial after some prominent doctors and even US President Donald Trump began backing it during the Coronavirus outbreak, despite a lack of sufficient trials on its effectiveness.
Earlier, the WHO suspended trials of the drug that Donald Trump has promoted as a Coronavirus defence, fuelling concerns about the US president's handling of the pandemic.
Trump has led the push for hydroxychloroquine as a potential shield or treatment for the virus, saying he took a course of the drug as a preventative measure.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has also heavily promoted hydroxychloroquine while the virus has exploded across nation, which this week became the second most infected in the world after the United States.
But the World Health Organization said Monday it was halting testing of the drug for COVID-19 after studies questioned its safety, including one published Friday that found it actually increased the risk of death.
The WHO “has implemented a temporary pause... while the safety data is reviewed”, its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, referring to the hydroxychloroquine arm of a global trial of various possible treatments.