U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to protect against the new coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects.
U.S. President Donald Trump surprised reporters Monday when he said he has been taking the malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, to prevent COVID-19, even though there is no evidence the drug is effective in warding off the disease. 0:51
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to protect against the new coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects.
Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily “for about a week and a half now.” Trump spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure or prophylaxis for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration’s top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus.
Trump, 73, said he had asked the White House physician if it was OK to take the drug, and the doctor told him, “Well, if you’d like it.”
“I started taking it, because I think it’s good,” Trump said. “I’ve heard a lot of good stories.”
WATCH | Katie Simpson on Trump’s announcement he is taken an unproven drug to prevent COVID-19:
The CBC’s Katie Simpson talks to Power and Politics host Vassy Kapelos about Donald Trump’s revelation that he has been taking an unproven drug treatment to prevent COVID-19, despite warnings about the drug from health officials and his own government. 2:19
The Food and Drug Administration warned health professionals last month that the drug should not be used to treat COVID-19 outside of hospital or research settings, due to sometimes fatal side effects. Regulators issued the alert for the drug, which can also be used to treat lupus and arthritis, after receiving reports of heart-rhythm problems, including deaths, from poison control centers and other health providers.
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