Washington (AFP)
US health officials on Monday withdrew authorization to use two treatments against Covid-19, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, a drug that was previously championed by President Donald Trump.
"It is no longer reasonable to believe that oral administration of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine is effective in the treatment of Covid-19," said the head of science for the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) in a letter. ) Denise Hinton.
"Nor is it reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of these products exceed their known and potential risk," she said, announcing the end of their emergency use.
The FDA had given the green light on March 28 so that these antimalarial treatments were prescribed, only in the hospital, to patients contaminated by the new coronavirus.
Donald Trump then placed great hopes on hydroxychloroquine, the effectiveness of which against Covid-19 has never been rigorously demonstrated.
"There is a good chance that it could have a huge impact. It would be a godsend if it worked," he said.
The Republican President himself later received preventive treatment with hydroxychloroquine for two weeks.
But the FDA had warned on April 25 against using the two antimalarials "outside of a hospital or clinical trials because of the risk of heart rhythm disorders".
France, where a controversial doctor, Professor Didier Raoult, defended and shone the spotlight on hydroxychloroquine, banned its use on May 28 against Covid-19.
The use of hydroxychloroquine has gone far beyond the scientific domain and has become the subject of a political debate around the world that closes in public opinion, giving rise to violent clashes on social networks.
Two randomized clinical trials conducted in the United Kingdom as well as in the United States and Canada recently concluded that the molecule was ineffective for patients with Covid-19.
© 2020 AFP