
Why isn't hydroxychloroquine aggressively used off-label in Covid patients? - Khelavaster
It&#x27;s already FDA-approved for arthritis inflammation. It&#x27;s been shown repeatedly to treat coronavirus in humans in China (400mg twice a day the first day, 200mg twice a day for the next four days,) as well as treating SARS in newborn mice and petri dishes of lung cells.<p>Why would Italy allow patients to die anyway instead of just trying hydrochloroquine?<p>Do we have any figures on infection and fatality rates for patients who take hydrochloroquine for arthritis or malaria prophylaxis in Central America compared to the general population?
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majos
Not any kind of doctor, but the list of adverse effects on Wikipedia [1]
is...not trivial. Seizures, deafness, retinopathy, and the bald assertion that
“there is not enough evidence to determine whether chloroquine is safe to be
given to people aged 65 and older.”

Granted, all these risks may be outweighed by those of covid, but it’s not a
slam dunk choice yet.

There are trials for chloroquine starting at University of Minnesota [2] too.

[1]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroquine](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroquine)

[2] [http://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-to-
test-t...](http://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-to-test-three-
drugs-for-covid-patients/568766632/)

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sigmaprimus
Heres what drugs.com say about the drug in question.

[https://www.drugs.com/hydroxychloroquine.html](https://www.drugs.com/hydroxychloroquine.html)

Maybe it is being used? Is it possible this might be one of the drugs the
media is currently refering to as anti-viral?

