Despite warnings about serious side effects, 30 million doses of a malaria drug touted by President Trump as a COVID-19 treatment have been shipped to state and local governments in at least 21 states, AP research has found.
FILE - This Monday, April 6, 2020, file photo shows an arrangement of Hydroxychloroquine pills in Las Vegas. At least 13 states have obtained a total of more than 10 million doses of malaria drugs to treat COVID-19 patients despite warnings from doctors that more tests are needed before the medications that President Trump once fiercely promoted should be used to help people with the coronavirus.
But health experts worry that having the drug easily available at a time of heightened public fear could make it easier to misuse it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Fridayhydroxychloroquine, for treating the new coronavirus outside of hospitals or research settings, because of reports of serious side effects, including dangerous irregular heart rhythms, and death among patients.
And FEMA has sent 19 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to 14 cities including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Baltimore from the federal government’s national stockpile, a source that also provided South Dakota and California with supplies. The U.S. government received a donation of 30 million doses from Swiss drugmaker Novartis on March 29 to build up the stockpile.
Doctors can already prescribe the malaria drug to patients with COVID-19, a practice known as off-label prescribing, and many do. Medical and pharmacy groups have warned against prescribing it for preventative purposes. The FDA has allowed it into the national stockpile, but only for narrowly defined purposes as studies continue.
Many states, however, have opted to steer clear over concerns about side effects and lingering questions about the effectiveness. At least one of those states is led by a Republican governor, Tennessee, where the state’s Department of Health sent a letter warning against using the drug, or hoarding it.
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