US Man Self-Medicates With Chloroquine To Treat Coronavirus, Gets Poisoned And Passes Away
A man from Phoenix Arizona was found dead and his wife in a critical condition after they self-medicated with chloroquine phosphate. Chloroquine is an anti-malarial drug which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat malaria lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The FDA has not yet approved the medication to treat the novel pandemic coronavirus.
Note: This is an incident of self-medication where the person involved lost his life. Please do not self-medicate; consult a doctor if you suspect you have symptoms.
According to a CNN report, a man from Phoenix, Arizona was found dead and his wife in a critical condition after they self-medicated with chloroquine phosphate to prevent getting infected with coronavirus.
The possible use of choroquine has been recommended by US President Donald Trump to treat the virus but self-medicating is absolutely not the way to do it.
Chloroquine is an anti-malarial drug which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. However, the FDA has not yet approved the medication to treat the novel pandemic coronavirus.
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Hospital system Banner Health released a statement which said that chloroquine and other medications should not be used by people to treat the virus on their own. Dr. Daniel Brooks, Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director said, "Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus. But self-medicating is not the way to do so."
The reports also suggested that it is still unknown as to how the couple came in the possession of the medication and which hospital treated them. Banner Health's statement also included the fact that both the man and woman started experiencing immediate effects of the medicine within 30 minutes of ingesting it.
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A few days ago, President Trump had tweeted about the medication being a possible measure to treat coronavirus. However, health officials curtly pointed out that they need to do thorough studies to conclude the same. Dr. Anthony Fauci, USA's top infectious disease expert said, "I have said I'm not disagreeing with the fact anecdotally they might work, but my job is to prove definitively from a scientific standpoint that they do work."
HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents).....
¡ª Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2020
Dr Daniel Brooks also added, "The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health."
In India, the use of hydroxychloroquine has been majorly recommended for high-risk patients as well as asymptomatic health care workers who are treating infected people and exposing themselves to the virus. Family members of COVID-19 confirmed cases are also recommended to use the drug to prevent catching the infection. However, President of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Balram Bhargava has especially emphasised on the fact that the medication is to be prescribed by a medical officer only.
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Consulting a medical expert is the ONLY way to go about this.
