The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned patients against taking two malaria medications that have been talked up by President Donald Trump for Covid-19, unless carefully monitored in a hospital or as part of a clinical trial.
The FDA said it was issuing the warning for the drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, after reports that patients taking them, especially in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, had experienced heart issues.
“The FDA is aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with Covid-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, often in combination with azithromycin,” the health agency said inthe warning.
The agency has cleared some emergency uses of the medications, though it emphasized Friday that they haven’t been officially authorized for Covid-19 treatment or prevention. Doctors in the U.S. can prescribe whatever drugs they want, however.
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