MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2020) The French High Council for Public Health (HCSP) and the Agency for the Safety of Health Products (ANSM) on Tuesday suspended the use of hydroxychloroquine as a means to combat COVID-19 for both the treatment of patients and clinical trials, after a study cast doubt on its effectiveness and pointed to risks associated with the drug.
The study, published last Friday in The Lancet medical journal, revealed that there was an increased risk of death when the drug was used for patients with COVID-19. The publication prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to halt its clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine on Monday as a precautional measure.
"The multidisciplinary working group analyzed international recommendations for the administration of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19, publications on this topic, including the Lancet article, and reports from regional centers of pharmacovigilance showing potentially serious side effects, especially cardiovascular ones, associated with the use of this drug. The working group collectively concluded that there was no sufficiently reliable clinical study demonstrating the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 regardless of the severity of the infection," said in a statement published Tuesday by the HCSP.
For its part, the ANSM agency announced Tuesday that, taking into account the Lancet study, it has launched a procedure to suspend the inclusion of patients in the clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine. It will take effect in 24 hours, the agency added.
In France, apart from clinical trials, the use of the drug against COVID-19 was allowed only in hospitals and only for severe cases if the treatment was approved by several doctors.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, hydroxychloroquine has been one of many treatments tested to combat the disease, but its use has remained the subject of heated discussions. Both US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have been advocating the use of the drug against the coronavirus infection.
As of Tuesday, the French authorities have reported 183,067 COVID-19 infections, the world's seventh-highest total number, and 28,460 related fatalities.
