Trump’s hydroxychloroquine obsession is slowing the search for a coronavirus treatment

On Monday, President Trump said he’d begun taking hydroxychloroquine to stave off the novel coronavirus disease, bolstering his already robust support for the drug. Experts agree that only rigorous, placebo-controlled clinical trials will determine whether it can truly prevent infection with the virus or treat early stages of the disease it causes, COVID-19. Yet Trump’s zeal may be disrupting such trials, leaving scientists unable to answer these questions, the New York Times reports.

Although Trump has even gone so far as to praise hydroxychloroquine— used for malaria, as well as autoimmune diseases like lupus — as a “miracle,” medical experts paint a murkier picture, per The Times. Recent research has found that it didn’t help people hospitalized for COVID-19 and may elevate the risk of death. The FDA has cautioned it could cause heart problems, and Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says whether it can help prevent infection or hospitalization remains to be seen.

At a Tuesday briefing, Trump criticized the studies on hospitalized COVID-19 patients as “a Trump enemy statement,” according to the Times. Continue reading.