WASHINGTON–At least 22 states, including Oklahoma, have obtained a total of more than 10 million doses of malaria drugs to treat COVID-19 patients despite warnings from doctors that more tests are needed.
At least 22 states and Washington, D.C., secured shipments of the drug, hydroxychloroquine, according to information compiled from state and federal officials by The Black Chronicle.
The federal Food and Drug Administration last month warned doctors against prescribing the drug, hydroxychloroquine, for treating the coronavirus outside of hospitals or research settings because of reports of serious side effects, including dangerous irregular heart rhythms and death among patients.
The rest of the cities and states received free shipments from drug companies or the U.S. government over the last month.
“If he [President Trump] hadn’t amplified the early and inappropriate enthusiasm for the drug, I doubt if the states would have even been aware of it,” said Dr. Kenneth B. Klein, a consultant from outside of Seattle, who has spent the last three decades working for drug companies to design and evaluate their clinical trials.
