Did taking hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 harm patients?
A study of reported adverse drug reactions suggests use of the contentious coronavirus treatment is linked to an increase in fatalities
Hydroxychloroquine-related adverse events including deaths surged last year as patients rushed to take the anti-malarial amid early reports it was effective against COVID-19, French research shows.
Demand for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine jumped early in the pandemic after heavy media coverage of uncontrolled trials and in vitro studies suggesting the drugs could be used to treat the virus.
In the US, prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine soared 80-fold between March 2019 and March 2020, with a huge rise in scripts from non-dermatology and non-rheumatology specialists.
Major clinical trials later concluded the two drugs, used to treat malaria and rheumatoid arthritis, were unlikely to be effective in treating or preventing COVID-19.
