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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on the benefits of hydroxychloroquine during the Covid-19 daily briefing at the White House. He said, “It’ll be wonderful, it’ll be so beautiful. It’ll be a gift from heaven if it works”. It is noteworthy that his critics point out the sentiment is confused as his administration has been seemingly unprepared for the demand in PPE (Personal Protection Equipment), slow to test, and inconsistent in leadership. The cases in the United States have now crossed 370,000 with more than 11,000 deaths. Trump described hydroxychloroquine at the weekend. But, his own medical experts have warned against the widespread use of the anti-malarial drug to treat the coronavirus.

Trump’s infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in March, “The evidence that you’re talking about is anecdotal evidence”. There isn’t any conclusive evidence of the drug’s effectiveness or safety when used against the disease. But, some countries including Pakistan have tested such drugs to treat coronavirus patients and found effective in most cases. Trials conducted by the U.S FDA (Food and Drug Administration) will not conclude for at least one month. So how did President Trump arrive at the point on Sunday when he asked America to consider taking an unproven drug and what do Americans actually have to lose?

French doctors in Marseille decided to experiment with a combination of the antibiotic known as azithromycin, or Z-pack, and hydroxychloroquine, 2-weeks ago. The drug used for decades as a treatment against malaria. There were 6-patients who had confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease that were declared to be negative within a week of the non-randomized Marseille program. What the study published in a microbiology journal did not make clear was that among the 42 patients initially selected for the experiment, three individuals who received doses of hydroxychloroquine were too ill to be tested for the virus at the end of the trial. One of them was discharged from the ICU and one stopped taking the treatment, but one person died, so it could not be tested.