US revokes emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine

Editor : Guo Xinwei

Publisher : China News Network

Ref : http://www.chinanews.com/gj/2020/06-16/9213368.shtml

Extract translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan

                                         / KUCINTA SETIA

Image courtesy : George Frey / AFP via Getty Images

On 15 June 2020, The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revoked an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and said that the agency's latest clinical trials show that these drugs do not work on covid patients.

According to The Wall Street Journal, FDA chief scientist Dennis Hinton wrote in a letter that day, we believe that "these two drugs may be effective in treating patients with covid" is no longer reasonable.

Patricia Cavazzoni, Acting Director of the FDA's Drug Evaluation Center, said that although some clinical trials are continuing to evaluate the potential benefits of these drugs in treating or preventing novel coronavirus infections, FDA researchers have conducted rigorous evaluations and believed that this emergency use authorization is no longer applicable.

According to the American technology website "The Verge", on 28 March, the FDA issued an emergency authorization to allow hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to be used to treat covid patients. The US Department of Health (HHS) also stated in a statement that pharmaceutical companies Sandoz and Bayer plan to donate more than 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine products to the US National Strategic Reserve (SNS), which will be distributed to all states across the United States.

However, according to the FDA, the agency’s latest research results show that the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine in the treatment of patients with covid, whether used in combination with macrolide antibiotics (such as azithromycin), not only has no obvious effect, but also may increase heart-related complications. The risk of illness may even increase the risk of death.

The FDA stated that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are drugs approved by the agency for the treatment of diseases such as malaria and lupus, and the market is still allowed to sell these drugs.

According to media reports, since the outbreak of the New Crown epidemic in the United States, President Trump said that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine helped prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infections  In May, Trump also revealed that he was taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent infection with the novel coronavirus.

For the FDA to revoke the emergency use authorization, on 15 June, Trump said at the White House that he did not know about the decision. He said, "It certainly won't hurt me."