France on Wednesday announced that it is banning hospitals from giving COVID-19 patients hydroxychloroquine, just days after the World Health Organization said it is ending the use of the malaria drug from its global study into coronavirus treatments.
The cancelling of the government decree that allowed the administering of hydroxychloroquine took effect immediately and marked the first by a country to stop the use of the drug following the WHO’s move to temporarily end the use of hydroxychloroquine testing, Reuters reported.
The drug — which caught global attention after President Trump announced he was taking, but has since stopped — is most commonly used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
On Monday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a “temporary pause” on the use of hydroxychloroquine in its global clinical trial after a paper was published last week that showed people taking hydroxychloroquine were at higher risk of death and heart problems than those that were not.
“This concern relates to the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19,” Mr. Tedros said, adding that the drugs are accepted treatments for people with malaria or auto-immune diseases.
— This story is based in part on wire reports.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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