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Hydroxychloroquine: no benefit for covid-19 patients 2:39
(CNN) - President Donald Trump claimed Monday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine after asking the White House doctor if he could take it, despite the fact that he said it is negative for covid-19 and several recent studies show that the Medication is ineffective against coronavirus and can even be harmful.
"A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it," Trump said. Later he said that he had been taking it every day for a week and a half.
When asked if the White House doctor recommended it, Trump replied "no."
"I asked him what you think, he said, 'Well, if you want to do it ..." the president told reporters.
There is no evidence that taking hydroxychloroquine can prevent infection with covid-19.
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A new study, the largest of its kind, shows that hydroxychloroquine does not work against covid-19 and could cause heart problems, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reported last week.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association . Follow a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed that the drug does not fight the virus.
Even before these reports were released, the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health issued warnings about the use of medications for patients with coronavirus.
Trump said he had not been exposed, he started taking the drug because he had heard from front-line workers who sent him letters saying they were taking it preventively.
"Here is my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it," Trump said.
The president said he does not know if it works, but stated that "if it does not work, you will not get sick and die."
The US Food and Drug Administration. USA He cautioned against using hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat the new coronavirus, and said they should only be used in hospitals or clinical trials because they can kill or cause serious side effects. These include severe heart rhythm problems in covid-19 patients treated with the medications, especially when combined with the antibiotic azithromycin or other medications that can affect the heart.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta wrote in 2018 that Trump has a common form of heart disease, based on the results of his physical exam.
Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat or prevent malaria and to treat autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.
Hydroxychloroquine
