The FDA advised consumers against taking hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 outside a hospital or formal clinical trial setting due to the risk of «serious heart rhythm problems.»
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that taking hydroxychloroquine is «ultimately» a choice between patients and their health-care providers, appearing to soften its earlier advisory against taking the anti-malaria drug outside of a hospital.
«The decision to take any drug is ultimately a decision between a patient and their doctor,» FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in a statement to CNBC. «Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are already FDA-approved for treating malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.»
The comments came a day after President Donald Trump said he has been taking hydroxychloroquine daily for over a week to prevent infection from the coronavirus. He said he asked his White House physician about the drug. «I asked him, ‘What do you think?’ He said, ‘Well, if you’d like it.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’d like it. I’d like to take it.'»
However, in a warning issued last month, the FDA advised consumers against taking drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 outside a hospital or formal clinical trial due to the risk of «serious heart rhythm problems.
