The moves by three of the countries hardest hit by coronavirus infections and deaths follow a WHO decision on Monday to pause a large trial of HCQ due to safety concerns.
NEW DELHI: France, Italy and Belgium acted to halt the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat patients suffering from Covid-19, amid questions about the safety of the antimalaria drug. France on Wednesday cancelled a decree allowing hospital doctors to dispense the medicine, while the Italian Medicine Agency suspended authorisation to use hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for Covid-19 outside clinical trials.
France in March allowed the use of HCQ — which beyond malaria is approved to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis —in specific situations for hospital treatment of Covid-19. Belgium’s medicine agency warned against using the drug to treat the virus any more except within ongoing clinical registered trials. It said trials aiming to evaluate the drug should also take potential risks into consideration.
The moves by three of the countries hardest hit by coronavirus infections and deaths follow a WHO decision on Monday to pause a large trial of HCQ due to safety concerns. An international HCQ trial led by the University of Oxford has also been paused, Britain’s pharmaceutical regulator said on Wednesday, less than a week after the trial started. Medical journal the Lancet has reported patients getting HCQ had increased death rates and irregular heartbeats.
US regulators have also advised against taking the drug because of health risks, but that has not deterred President Trump, who said last week that “I’ve heard a lot of good stories”, about its potential in the coronavirus fight. The WHO said a panel would act by mid-June to evaluate the drug’s use in its multicountry trial. Germany is looking at the the WHO’s decision but has not made any decision about new guidance on HCQ, a spokeswoman said.
NEW DELHI: France, Italy and Belgium acted to halt the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat patients suffering from Covid-19, amid questions about the safety of the antimalaria drug. France on Wednesday cancelled a decree allowing hospital doctors to dispense the medicine, while the Italian Medicine Agency suspended authorisation to use hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for Covid-19 outside clinical trials.
France in March allowed the use of HCQ — which beyond malaria is approved to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis —in specific situations for hospital treatment of Covid-19. Belgium’s medicine agency warned against using the drug to treat the virus any more except within ongoing clinical registered trials. It said trials aiming to evaluate the drug should also take potential risks into consideration.
The moves by three of the countries hardest hit by coronavirus infections and deaths follow a WHO decision on Monday to pause a large trial of HCQ due to safety concerns. An international HCQ trial led by the University of Oxford has also been paused, Britain’s pharmaceutical regulator said on Wednesday, less than a week after the trial started. Medical journal the Lancet has reported patients getting HCQ had increased death rates and irregular heartbeats.
US regulators have also advised against taking the drug because of health risks, but that has not deterred President Trump, who said last week that “I’ve heard a lot of good stories”, about its potential in the coronavirus fight. The WHO said a panel would act by mid-June to evaluate the drug’s use in its multicountry trial. Germany is looking at the the WHO’s decision but has not made any decision about new guidance on HCQ, a spokeswoman said.