(3 minutes read)
· The World Health Organization said it I temporarily
suspended its clinical trials that use hydroxychloroquine to treat
COVID-19 patients
· The medical journal “The Lancet” reported recently that
patients getting hydroxychloroquine were dying at higher rates than
other coronavirus patients
The World Health Organization said it temporarily suspended its
clinical trials that use hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19
patients. This is due to the concerns expressed by the experts that
the drug may have more side effects.
The medical journal “The Lancet” reported recently that patients
getting hydroxychloroquine were dying at higher rates than other
coronavirus patients. The WHO has conducted the trail on 3,500
patients from 17 countries as a part of its Solidarity Trial under its
strict supervision. The Solidarity Trial was conducted to adequately
evaluate the potential benefits and harms from this drug. The drug is
a common malaria drug, which was tested for treating COVID-19 in
various combinations. Only the hydroxychloroquine trial is suspended
among other drugs being put into trial.
The WHO said tha the review was prompted by the article in The Lancet.
Though not a randomized control trial, it was still large. It may be
noted that US President Donald Trump and a few others have maintained
that the drug was effective though the scientific community has not
given a green signal for the use of the drug, mentioning that it
required further testing of its effectiveness. President Trump
maintained that he was taking the drug to help prevent infection,
although he later announced that he had stopped taking it.
