Trump Touts Drug That FDA Says Isn't Yet Approved for Virus

[babylonsister]

Trump Touts Drug That FDA Says Isn’t Yet Approved for Virus
By Anna Edney
March 19, 2020, 12:20 PM EDT Updated on March 19, 2020, 4:12 PM EDT

‘It’s not going to kill anybody,’ Trump says at White House
Research still examining safety, effectiveness of chloroquine



The Food and Drug Administration has been told by President Donald Trump to see if it can expand the use of a decades-old malaria drug as an experimental treatment for coronavirus patients.

The drug, chloroquine, hasn’t yet been approved for treatment of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. While it’s been available for decades for malaria, it’s not clear whether it will work against the new illness. A March 10 review of existing research found there’s little solid proof one way or the other.

During an at-times-confusing White House press conference, Trump said that chloroquine was approved for use and that he wanted to “remove every barrier” to test more drugs against Covid-19 and “allow many more Americans to access drugs that have shown really good promise.”

“Normally the FDA would take a long time to approve something like that, and it’s -- it was approved very, very quickly and it’s now approved by prescription,” Trump said.

An FDA spokesperson said the drug hadn’t been approved for use in Covid-19 patients. However, U.S. doctors are legally able to prescribe a drug for any illness or condition they think is medically appropriate.

more...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-19/trump-touts-malaria-drug-as-potential-coronavirus-treatment?fbclid=IwAR0jg3BpFdRUJffwcdw7iDu-99xPiB3-97KyRL9KxALnXx22j5c0k_aVt3E

[Turbineguy]

1. As long as

his voters who get this drug live until December, it's cool by him.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Don't forget to wash it down with Clorox.

Stupid stupid stupid.

[customerserviceguy]

3. This drug has been known

since before World War II.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroquine

There must be reams of medical literature about side effects, etc. that would guide doctors in prescribing it wisely. The FDA is crippled by the Thalidomide tragedy of nearly sixty years ago.

We used fast-track for HIV/AIDS drugs, and while that virus has not been eliminated, it is no longer a death sentence. I don't see why the same thing can't be done here.