Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine tablets are shown in at the IHU Mediterranee Infection Institute in Marseille, France, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty Images)
A federal health agency removed several paragraphs of information about hydroxychloroquine from its website, including recommended dosing information.
Hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria and lupus, has shown promising results in early trials against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last month that hydroxychloroquine was being used in hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. It later added information about dosing, based on recommendations from some clinicians.
“Although optimal dosing and duration of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 are unknown, some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally different hydroxychloroquine dosing such as: 400mg BID on day one, then daily for 5 days; 400 mg BID on day one, then 200mg BID for 4 days; 600 mg BID on day one, then 400mg daily on days 2-5,” it stated.
Four paragraphs of information about hydroxychloroquine and the closely related drug chloroquine were included by the agency. Three of those paragraphs were removed on April 7, including the information about dosing. The agency cut 409 words to 56.
A view taken on March 20, 2020 in Cremona, southeast of Milan, shows volunteers looking on during the opening of a newly operative field hospital for CCP virus patients, financed by US evangelical Christian disaster relief NGO Samaritans Purse. (Miguel Medine/AFP via Getty Images)
The CDC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several paragraphs about remdesivir, an experimental drug also being explored for use against COVID-19, were also removed.
Hydroxychloroquine is being prescribed across the nation, according to doctors, and a number of stories have emerged attesting to its alleged efficacy, including a lawmaker in Michigan. On the other hand, some medical professionals have said there isn’t enough proof to attribute the recovery of some patients to the drug, cautioning people to wait until clinical trials are finished.
Worldwide movement on the drug includes India banning its export and advising healthcare workers to take it as a prophylactic; Hungary banning its export; and Bahrain saying it has proven effective. Doctors across 30 nations rated the drug as the most effective treatment against COVID-19.
The United States obtained 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine and the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the drug and chloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
The updated CDC page points people to the administration’s authorization as well as a website that contains information about clinical trials.
