Newsweek reports the Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for treatment of the symptoms of Covid-19 in hospitalized patients.
Why was it possible to do this so quickly? Because the behavior of the drugs in human subjects is known, including side effects, dosing levels, and interactions with other medications. The drugs are in current use for malaria and some auto-immune diseases.
Evidence concerning the drugs' efficacy is, at present, contradictory with good results reported from France and poor results reported from China. Candidly, for different reasons I view neither nation as a source of reliable information.
The use of these pharmaceuticals became controversial after President Trump expressed optimism about their potential in the Covid-19 context. Of course TDS sufferers would question it if he claimed aspirin is useful therapy for normal headaches or moderate exercise is an aid to general good health.
