Former Sons of Anarchy actress Kristen Renton attacks US President Donald Trump’s promotion of hydroxychloroquine, a malarial drug, as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
The drug has not been approved by the FDA yet. It is currently being tested. It is also used to treat multiple other diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases. Some are reported to have found a shortage of supply amidst the pandemic.
On Sunday, Renton, who has been diagnosed with lupus, posted on Twitter, “So while you are telling people to “try Hydroxychloroquine” (aka plaquenil) because it “may” help…” She expressed the fears that many people share at this point given that hydroxychloroquine is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. During the last week, the FDA added both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to its shortages list “due to a significant surge in demand,” according to The Hill.
The shortage was reported amid the president’s consistent touting of the drugs in his day to day briefings. “What do you have to lose? Take it,” the president said on Saturday. He suggested that patients suffering from the Covid19 symptoms should really take it. He also added that it’s upto the patients and the doctors but one can try it if they’d like to.
The next day, during his Sunday briefing, Trump again praised the drug, saying that taking the drug can help patients and it will never hurt patients.
The president also announced that the United States had begun stockpiling the drug. He said that 29 million pills of hydroxychloroquine has already been stockpiled. He also added that they’re inexpensive.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases warned that there is no evidence to verify the credibility of hydroxychloroquine yet.