Doctors are reportedly hoarding trial coronavirus drugs by issuing prescriptions for themselves

Reuters

A pharmacist counts prescription drugs at the at the CentreTown Pharmacy in Ottawa

• Doctors around the country are hoarding medicine that could be used to treat the coronavirus for themselves, according to a report by The New York Times.
• The doctors are writing prescriptions for themselves and family members, the report said.
• The drugs are not approved by the FDA to treat the coronavirus and are usually used for illnesses like malaria and HIV, though President Trump has touted some of the medicine as a potential cure.
• However, an Arizona man died after taking one of the drugs as a preventative measure.
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Doctors around the country are hoarding prescription drugs that could be used to treat the coronavirus for themselves, according to a report by The New York Times' Ellen Gabler.

The doctors are writing prescriptions for themselves and family members for drugs like chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and remdesivir, which are used to treat illnesses like HIV and malaria.

The stockpiling has prompted pharmaceutical boards in Idaho, Kentucky, Ohio, Nevada, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Texas to issue restrictions or guidelines on the drugs, the report said.

The drugs are not FDA-approved to treat the coronavirus. An Arizona man died after he and his wife took chloroquine phosphate in an attempt to prevent themselves from contracting COVID-19.

Trump has touted chloroquine as a possible cure for the coronavirus and falsely claimed that it was approved by the FDA.

A person posted to a Facebook group for pharmacists, saying that they received prescriptions for one of the drugs for themselves and their family, the report said. "Is this ethical?" the person asked.

Another person quoted in the report posted to the group that they were called a "communist" for denying a prescription to someone for one of the drugs.

The wife of the Arizona man who died after taking chloroquine said that they had taken it after "Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure."

"It's shown very encouraging - very, very encouraging early results," Trump said last week of the drug. "And we're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately. And that's where the FDA has been so great. They - they've gone through the approval process; it's been approved."

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