The FDA has revoked emergency use authorization for the drugs Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for the treatment of Covid19, it was announced today.
After reportedly reviewing current research available on the drugs, the Food and Drug Administration said the drugs do not meet “the statutory criteria” for emergency use authorization and that they are unlikely to be effective in treating the virus.
“FDA has concluded that…it is no longer reasonable to believe that oral formulations of HCQ and CQ may be effective in treating COVID-19, nor is it reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of these products outweigh their known and potential risks,” FDA chief scientist Denise Hinton wrote in a letter to Gary Disbrow of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
“Accordingly, FDA revokes the EUA for emergency use of HCQ and CQ to treat COVID-19. As of the date of this letter, the oral formulations of HCQ and CQ are no longer authorized by FDA to treat COVID-19,” Hinton’s letter read.
Doctors can continue to prescribe the drugs for off-label use as they can with any drug. The emergency use authorization effected only hospitalized Covid19 patients and drugs donated to the Strategic National Stockpile.
The decision comes in spite of numerous studies from around the world that have shown Hydroxychloroquine to be effective in treating Covid19, especially when used in combination with Azithromycin and the vitamin Zinc.
Just last week The Association of American Surgeons & Physicians filed a lawsuit against the FDA, HHS, BARDA, two if its sub-agencies and several “lead officers” of government agencies for interfering with patients’ access to the drugs.
And a major study published in The Lancet last month showed the drug to not be effective in treating Covid and even harmful to some patients. But that study was retracted soon after however, after it was shown the data on which the study’s findings were based was false.