The FDA has canceled emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19
Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine no longer have the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s blessing for use against coronavirus infections when given outside of a clinical trial. In March, the agency authorized using the malaria drugs for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who couldn’t participate in clinical trials. But the legal criteria for issuing an emergency use authorization are no longer met, the agency said in a statement June 15. The drugs are “unlikely to produce an antiviral effect,” Denise Hinton, the agency’s chief scientist noted in a June 15 letter of revocation. Studies have shown that the drugs are no better than a placebo for preventing COVID-19 in people exposed to the coronavirus and don’t speed recovery for those with serious illness (SN: 6/4/20; SN: 4/21/20). “The totality of scientific evidence currently available indicate a lack of benefit,” the agency statement said. After reviewing evidence, it’s “no longer reasonable to believe that [hydroxychloroquine] and [chloroquine]...