Brazil's president says he is taking hydroxychloroquine to cure his coronavirus. Scientists have long said it doesn't work.
Advertisement
Bill Bostock
Jul 8, 2020, 16:12 IST
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro wearing a protective mask at a ceremony in front the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia on May 12, 2020.Adriano Machado/Reuters
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, said Tuesday that he is taking the contentious antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat his symptoms.
In mid-March, the FDA briefly greenlit the drug for emergency use in severe coronavirus cases, but that waiver was withdrawn on June 15 following weeks of debate over its safety.
The key problem is that while the drug may work on the coronavirus in the lab, it does not work the same way in the human body, and could trigger serious side effects.
Cases and deaths are still high, but the country is pressing on with ending its lockdown and reopening businesses and venues.
Throughout the pandemic Bolsonaro also repeatedly flouted public-health guidance and downplayed the severity of the outbreak.
He told TV Brasil on Tuesday that his lungs were scanned on Monday after he felt pain, but by Tuesday his fever was better, which he said was thanks to hydroxychloroquine.
Nonetheless, a number of studies have found hydroxychloroquine to be ineffective in treating COVID-19.
"These large observational studies have found no evidence of benefit and perhaps some evidence of harm," Dr. Neil Schluger, chairman of the department of medicine at New York Medical College, previously told Business Insider.
Advertisement
A handful of other studies, however, have indicated that the drug has seen some success in hospitalized patients.
Some 50 million hydro chloroquine pills are currently lying in US government storage, after the Trump administration stockpiled them before the FDA withdrew the waiver.
Hydroxychloroquine is also a key treatment for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
{{}}
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.