Trump Hypes Potential COVID-19 Drugs, But Evidence So Far Is Slim
President Donald Trump has enthusiastically pushed the use of two malaria drugs — one in combination with an antibiotic — to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But there is currently only limited evidence to suggest the drugs are effective against the new virus.
Over a series of press conferences and on Twitter, Trump has repeatedly expressed his optimism that two existing malaria drugs — chloroquine and its safer derivative hydroxychloroquine — will work in COVID-19 patients. Both drugs are also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Calling himself a “big fan” of hydroxychloroquine, Trump said in a March 20 press conference that he had “seen things that are impressive,” even as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, cautioned that the evidence supporting the drug was anecdotal — and that it would take a large, well-done clinical trial to prove its effectiveness.
As we have written previously, Trump left the misleading impression that the FDA had approved chloroquine to treat COVID-19. In fact, there are no FDA-approved drugs to treat COVID-19, although existing drugs can be legally prescribed by doctors to treat other ailments for which they weren’t approved in what’s called off-label prescribing.
After the release of a small clinical trial in France, Trump also trumpeted.
