Do not take pills Trump is using, warn Irish experts
DONALD Trump’s revelation that he is taking an antimalarial drug to protect against coronavirus has been condemned by Irish experts.
The US president has repeatedly championed the use of hydroxychloroquine to tackle Covid-19 – despite it not being approved for this purpose outside research or hospital settings.
Hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug used for acute malaria and certain types of arthritis. It can reduce inflammation, pain, and swelling – and is widely used to treat rheumatic diseases. It is a derivative of chloroquine, which is also used to treat malaria.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland yesterday, deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said there ‘simply isn’t an evidence base’ for hydroxychloroquine’s use against Covid-19.
‘We have looked at this advice here in Ireland as recently as the middle of April, it’s very clear that there simply isn’t an evidence base at the moment for hydroxychloroquine and the other drug that the president mentioned, which was azithromycin,’ Dr Glynn said.
‘So we would be telling people certainly not to consider taking any medications without the advice of their own doctor and certainly from our perspective we’d be saying there’s no evidence of a protective effect from those drugs at present.’
The HSE’s chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry also told a Covid19 Dáil committee yesterday authorities here are not recommending its use.
He said: ‘This is a drug that’s used for other conditions. There’s been some small studies done which to date don’t show any direct benefit. The current advice from us in this country from the expert advisory group – in line with other countries – is that more research is needed before we demonstrate this is of any benefit either in prevention or treatment of Covid-19.’
Dr Henry warned: ‘It is a drug that is not without side effects – particularly cardiac side effects – and as such we would not be recommending it for prevention of Covid-19.’ The UK Government or any other agency. has also said chloroquine ‘The weight of evidence from and hydroxychloroquine are not most recent trials shows it to be licensed to treat symptoms ineffective, with the potential for related to Covid-19 or prevent adverse side effects, including infection. those affecting the heart.’
Dr Stephen Griffin, associate The FDA has warned against professor in the School of Medicine, the drug’s use outside clinical University of Leeds, said: trials or hospital settings. ‘Hydroxychloroquine is not Dr Griffin said Mr Trump’s licensed for the treatment or remarks were ‘a staggering, irresponsible prevention of Covid-19 by the act that could very FDA (US Food and Drug Administration), well also amount to self-harm’.