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May 26, 2020 of death on patients WHO suspended its trial By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services On Monday the World Health Organization said that it will temporarily drop hydroxychloroquine from its global study into experimental covid-19 treatments, saying that its experts need to review all available evidence to date, reported Voice of America Journal. In a press briefing, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that in light of a paper published last week in the Lancet that showed people taking hydroxychloroquine were at higher risk of death and heart problems, there would be "a temporary pause" on the hydroxychloroquine arm of its global clinical trial. "This concern relates to the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19," Tedros said, adding that the drugs are approved treatments for people with malaria or autoimmune diseases. Other treatments in the trial, including the experimental drug remdesivir and an HIV combination therapy, are still being tested. Tedros said the executive group behind WHO's global "Solidarity" trial met on Saturday and decided to conduct a comprehensive review of all available data on hydroxychloroquine and that its use in the trial would be suspended for now. Michael Ryan, WHO's emergency chief, said there was no indication of any safety problems with hydroxychloroquine in the WHO trial to date, but that statisticians would now analyze the information. "We're just acting on an abundance of caution based on the recent results of all the studies to ensure that we can continue safely with that arm of the trial," he said. WHO said it expected to have more details within the next two weeks.  Last week in a press briefing U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was taking hydroxychloroquine although he has not tested positive for covid-19. He has since come out saying he has stopped taking the drug. His own administration has warned the drug can have deadly side effects, and both the European Medicines Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned health professionals last month that the drug should not be used to treat covid-19 outside of the hospital or research settings due to numerous serious side effects that in some cases can be fatal. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are approved for treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and for preventing and treating malaria, but no large rigorous tests have found them safe or effective for preventing or treating covid-19.  In Costa Rica, Switzerland- based pharmaceutical company Novartis donated 108,000 hydroxychloroquine tablets to Social Security in April. The donation made by Novartis company also included 5,000 units of surgical masks and 5,000 pairs of gloves, which were purchased for internal use by Novartis personnel and will be transferred to Social Security. The hydroxychloroquine that Novartis distributes, through the firm Sandoz, meets the quality criteria required by the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, said Social Security in its statement. The donation made by the pharmaceutical company is made without any compensation requirement and any requirement of past or future purchase by the Social Security said authorities. Also, Sandoz will not receive any monetary benefit from Social Security for this donation. However, Social Security would pay customs, import, and transportation costs of the medication to warehouses. According to Social Security, this medication is regularly used to combat malaria, autoimmune diseases like lupus and chronic polyarthritis. It is a treatment option for patients suffering from covid-19 associated conditions. It is expected that Social Security informs today on the strategy of the use of hydroxychloroquine in Costa Rica due to the WHO decision to stop the trials. ------------------------ Have you heard about hydroxychloroquine for covid-19 patients treatment in your country? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
