A malaria drug touted by US President Donald Trump as a “game changer” and a “cure” in the fight against the coronavirus provided no benefit and potentially higher risk of death for patients, reports an unpublished US analysis of veteran hospital data.

The decades old hydroxychloroquine has been widely used in an attempt to alter the course of the COVID-19 respiratory illness based on anecdotal reports that it may provide some benefit.

However, latest analysis of Veterans Health Administration (VA) data found that 28% of 97 patients given hydroxychloroquine along with standard care died, compared with a death rate of 11% for the 158 patients that did not receive the drug.

The death rate was 22% for the 113 patients given hydroxychloroquine plus the antibiotic azithromycin.