Chloroquine phosphate coronavirus & hydroxychlorine as COVID-19 cures? Arizona man in his 60’s dies after self medicating w/ fish tank cleaning additive to treat deadly infection.
An Arizona man in his 60’s has died after ingesting an additive used to clean fish tanks — after believing the compound to be the pharmaceutical drug version recently touted by President Trump as a potential coronavirus cure.
Within 30 minutes of taking chloroquine phosphate, the un-named man experienced ‘immediate effects’ and had to be admitted to a nearby Banner Health hospital according to a press release.
His wife, also in her 60s, is in critical condition after also taking the additive, which is used in aquariums to kill some organisms, like algae, that may harm fish.
Prices of the product on eBay skyrocketed after Forbes reported some studies found that the pharmaceutical version, the anti-malarial drug chloroquine, and a derivative of it called hydroxychloroquine, were effective in killing the virus in laboratory experiments.
Effective in limited test tube studies but still a long way away from being viable practical solution w/ inherent dangers:
Hydroxychloroquine, an antimalaria drug sold under the brand name Plaquenil — and also used to treat arthritis and other ailments — was determined to be effective in killing the deadly bug in laboratory experiments, citing findings published March 9 in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.
Trump said last week the drug would soon begin to be distributed to treat some coronavirus patients. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn clarified that the drug would be made available as part of a clinical trial.
Officials warned people not to take the drugs to treat coronavirus symptoms unless specifically prescribed by their doctor.
‘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,’ said Dr. Daniel Brooks, medical director of the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center.
‘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,’ Brooks added.
Chloroquine is especially not recommended for use by non-hospitalized patients.
‘We are strongly urging the medical community to not prescribe this medication to any non-hospitalized patients,’ Brooks reiterated.
Of note, Monday’s release did not say whether the 60 something year old couple who ingested chloroquine phosphate had been diagnosed with COVID-19 prior to doing so.
New York state officials are expected to begin trials with the medication on Tuesday, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Meanwhile, many people across the US, including Rio Giardinieri, of Florida have praised the drug and credited it with saving their lives. Most improvements have come after they were prescribed to patients by doctors.
Reports from Nigeria tell of three people being taken to local hospitals with chloroquine poisoning after taking the drug.
Health officials in Nigeria warn against using the anti-malaria medication to alleviate coronavirus symptoms after seeing a spike in its use, following its endorsement by Trump.
The medication has spiked as much as a 400 per cent rise in price since President’ Trump’s comments last week- as the incumbent Republican president seeks re-election in November.
