Politics aside, hydroxychloroquine could (maybe) help fight COVID-19
President Donald Trump’s announcement that he is taking the drug hydroxychloroquine as a precaution against the coronavirus has once again thrown a decades-old antimalarial drug into the headlines. There’s currently not enough data to say whether the drug can protect people from catching COVID-19 or from getting very ill if they do get infected with the virus. Studies of its use in treating very sick patients have shown mixed results and, in some cases, have led to dangerous side effects. But now, with the president touting hydroxychloroquine even as scientists issue cautions about its use, the drug has found itself at the center of political divides, to the possible detriment of figuring out whether it works. Nevertheless, researchers are busy testing hydroxychloroquine and a related drug called chloroquine to see if they can either prevent infection or keep illness from worsening. Nearly 200 clinical trials are under way or planned around the world to test the drugs, either alone or in combination with other...