Far out. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has just told the world at an official White House event that he’s been taking an unproven drug to prevent the coronavirus.
Trump had been touting the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for months, but now he says he’s been taking it himself against official medical advice.
“I’m taking it, hydroxychloroquine. Right now, yeah. Couple of weeks ago, I started taking it. ‘Cos I think it’s good, I’ve heard a lot of good stories,” he said on Monday.
“A lot of good things have come out. You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the front-line workers. Before you catch it. The front-line workers, many, many are taking it.
“You know the expression, I’ve used it for certain reasons: What do you have to lose?”
The drug, which is also used against rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, has not been proven tdo prevent the coronavirus and front-line workers have not encouraged its use.
Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug FDA has cautioned about using for COVID-19. He started “a couple weeks ago”
“I think it’s good. I’ve heard a lot good stories. And if it’s not good, I’ll tell you right, I’m not going to get hurt by it” https://t.co/Nj065CIsxp pic.twitter.com/eFPC0g1Vns— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 18, 2020
“It seems to have an impact, and maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t,” he added.
“But if it doesn’t, you’re not going to get sick or die. This is a pill that’s been used for a long time, for 30, 40 years.”
In March, an Arizona man fatally overdosed after ingesting fish tank cleaner which contained the chemical. His wife said Trump led them to believe it was a “cure”, although neither of them had contracted the virus.
The idea hydroxychloroquine can prevent or cure the coronavirus comes from a widely-discredited French study.
More recently, larger studies in the US, UK and China have found either no benefit or increased side effects from treating COVID-19 patients with the drug. A Brazilian study was even axed after the dose proved lethal for some patients.
Meanwhile, Trump refuses to wear a facemask, something health authorities in the US actually have advised.
