GENEVA, Switzerland (NBC) – The World Health Organization has suspended testing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients due to safety concerns.
The drug has been touted by President Trump and others as a possible treatment for the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
President Trump said he was taking the drug to help prevent infection.
WHO officials announced the pause in testing at a news conference Monday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The executive group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the solidarity trial, while the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board. The other arms of the trial are continuing.”
Head of WHO’S Emergencies Program Mike Ryan explained, “So as such it is not related to any problem, there is no problem at all right now within the solidarity trial, there is no issue, there is no signal, we are just acting on an abundance of caution based on the recent results of other studies to ensure that we can continue safely with that arm of the trial.”
The WHO previously recommended against using hydroxychloroquine to treat or prevent coronavirus infections, except as part of clinical trials.
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