A man reportedly died after ingesting a substance used to clean fish tanks that contains chloroquine, a drug that Pres. Trump has claimed repeatedly could be a 'game changer' in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
Chloroquine, or hydroxychloroquine, has been approved to treat and prevent malaria since 1944. Because the drug is on the market, doctors already can use it for off-label purposes. Trump has repeatedly touted the prospect of the drug although health officials say any suggestion that it could help is purely anecdotal and hasn't been backed by clinical trials.
"Products marketed for veterinary use or 'for research only,' or otherwise not for human consumption have not been evaluated for safety and should never be used," according to an agency statement."FDA is aware that chloroquine is marketed as an unapproved drug to treat external parasites in aquarium fish, but these products have not been evaluated by FDA to determine if they are safe, effective, properly manufactured, and adequately labeled," the agency said.
"We don't know, but there's a real chance that it could have a tremendous impact. It would be a gift from God if that worked. That would be a big game changer. So we'll see," Trump said. "The information that you're referring to specifically is anecdotal," he added."It was not done in a controlled clinical trial. So, you really can't make any definitive statement about it."MORE: Chloroquine, an old malaria drug, may help treat novel coronavirus, doctors say
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