Hydroxychloroquine

The Henry Ford Health System in Detroit recently announced it is leading the WHIP COVID-19 study, which will assess whether hydroxychloroquine will prevent or impede COVID-19 in health care workers and first responders.

A review of the available literature suggested that although preclinical results are promising, there remains little evidence supporting the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine to prevent COVID-19, according to findings published in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.

The FDA issued a safety alert warning health care professionals and patients to avoid the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine outside of hospital or clinical trial settings due to potential increased risk for serious heart-related adverse events and death.

About a year ago I wrote a piece on hydroxychloroquine retinal toxicity, in which I explored the drug’s mechanism and why it yields its characteristic bullseye.

A little more than 3 years before the United States announced its first confirmed case of what would come to be called COVID-19, Anthony S. Fauci, MD, told a gathering of students and global health experts at Georgetown University that there was “no doubt” the Trump administration would face a surprise infectious disease outbreak. Fauci’s experience as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for more than 30 years told him that it was inevitable. Just since 2000, there had been outbreaks of West Nile virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Zika virus, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and the years-long West African Ebola epidemic.

Novartis has reached an agreement with the FDA clearing the way for the company to sponsor a large clinical trial studying the use of hydroxychloroquine among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, according to a press release.

In a recent commentary, Douglas Esberg, MD, FACC, FHRS, discussed arrhythmia concerns about treatments being used for COVID-19 and offered suggestions to minimize risk to patients. It was the top story in cardiology last week.

Shortages of hydroxychloroquine, sparked by its still unproven potential as a COVID-19 treatment, may soon force rheumatologists to make difficult decisions regarding which of their patients receive the drug, and at what dosage, according to a study published in The Journal of Rheumatology.

More than 80% of surveyed U.S. pharmacists believe that hydroxychloroquine sulfate should be used as a potential treatment for COVID-19, raising access concerns among rheumatologists for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis who rely on the drug.

In this exclusive video, Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, medical director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, discusses misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.