FDA Head: Preliminary Data Suggests Hydroxychloroquine Beneficial In Wuhanvirus Treatment
Keneci Channel.
Dr Stephen Hahn appearing on Fox news gave an update on the progress of the various potential treatments for the wuhanvirus disease.
President Trump has been virtually alone in his administration championing the use of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of wuhanvirus disease. Coronavirus Task Force member and immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci has been more reluctant when talking about the drug.
Talking to Fox news recently, Fauci said, “I think we’ve got to be careful that we don’t make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug. We still need to do the kinds of studies that definitely prove whether any intervention is truly safe and effective."
But appearing on Fox news 'Watters World,' the Commissioner of Food And Drug Administration suggests that the drug may indeed be a good treatment for the virus disease.
Dr Hahn said, "there are some preliminary data that we have from around the world, that suggest it[hydroxychloroquine] might have a benefit." Though he said they need more clinical trial to make a more informed decision on whether or not to recommend the drug.
The FDA Chief said the drug is available for prescription by doctors for the treatment of wuhanvirus disease: "If a patient or doctor thinks that hydroxychloroquine might benefit them, that's an individual patient-doctor decision."
He added, "we're also performing clinical trials. Because what we want is the necessary information to make a decision at the FDA, about whether it's safe and effective for [wuhanvirus disease treatment."
There have been positive reports from around the world on the efficacy of the hydroxychloroquine. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer touted positive data for the use of its azithromycin (Zithromax) drug, along with hydroxychloroquine, in a wuhanvirus clinical trial performed in France.
On One America News Network, Pearson Sharp reported that the French government has officially approved the use of hydroxychloroquine after 78 out 80 patents who use the drug recovered fully from wuhanvirus disease.
Dr Hahn speaking to 'Watters World' host Jesse Watters, also talked about another potential treatment for wuhanvirus disease: convalescent plasma. The treatment basically involves giving a wuhanvirus patient the blood of someone who has recovered from the disease. Scientists hope this would transfer developed immunity to the patient.
The FDA Chief said, "we have been allowing individual hospitals to do this on a case by case basis for the last 12 days.
We'll be announcing very soon a nationwide program in partnership with hospitals across the country and academic centers, run by the red cross and other blood banks, that'll allow us to have people come in who've recovered from [wuhanvirus disease] donate the plasma, and then give this potentially life-saving treatments to patients who're sick."
He however added, "now we don't have the full evidence behind this. So we're doing this on a clinical trial called an 'expanded access program' which allows us to gather the information about the outcome."