President Trump was prescribed antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine by his White House physician, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed May 20.
“And he believed, Dr. Conley, that the benefits outweigh the risks for the President. And, you know hydroxychloroquine, it’s worth mentioning, is a drug that has been approved for at least three other conditions. Malaria is one of them as a prophylaxis (preventative measure) ... Lupus is another example.”
“So you know, you do have a right to try it, in essence, to reflect on the language of the president’s previous legislation that gives people the right to try and the waning days of their life or when they’re facing a fatal illness,” she said of hydroxychloroquine.
However, the press secretary stressed that Americans should not take the drug unless it has been prescribed by their doctor, adding, “it’s very important to say that.”
“Only your doctor can say that this is for you and prescribe it to you. But nevertheless, to completely act as if this is some sort of poison when there are many, many Americans and many people around the world taking this for Lupus and other illnesses—it just does more harm than good.”
“After numerous discussions he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risk,” Conley wrote.
The letter did not explicitly state that the doctor had prescribed hydroxychloroquine, nor did it include information about Trump’s dosage.
Trump told reporters earlier Monday he had started taking the controversial drug, which he has regularly championed as a potential “game changer” in the fight against coronavirus despite limited evidence from the medical community.
Speaking at a roundtable event at the White House, Trump told reporters, “I happen to be taking it ... I’m taking it, hydroxychloroquine. Right now, yeah. A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it cause I think it’s good. I’ve heard a lot of good stories.
“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,” he added.
Trump also said that he is taking zinc, and that he has taken an initial dose of the antibiotic azithromycin, or Z-Pak.