Coronavirus: reminder of the risks of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine

Heard from FAMHP

June 2, 2020

The FAMHP restates the risks linked to the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 following the publication of a retrospective analysis of a patient monitoring register in the medical journal The Lancet on 22 May 2020. The analysis did not highlight any benefits from these drugs in patients with COVID-19 and revealed adverse cardiovascular effects.

Experts analysed data from more than 96,000 COVID-19 patients in 671 different hospitals around the world. About 15,000 patients were treated with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine with or without a macrolide. In this group, more patients died (one in six) than in the group not treated with these drugs (one in eleven). More information.