President Trump has touted the decades-old anti-malaria drug chloroquine and its less-toxic cousin hydroxychloroquine as promising treatments for the COVID-19 coronavirus in press briefings and on Twitter, despite warnings from top federal health officials that the drugs aren't approved to fight COVID-19 and could have harmful side effects. The publicity has led to a run on the drugs, leaving people who use it to treat lupus and arthritis unable to fill their prescriptions. There have also been deaths.
Nigeria reported two fatal overdoses of chloroquine after Trump's remarks and its Center for Disease Control pleaded with Nigerians on Friday to not self-medicate with a drug that "will cause harm and can lead to death." Closer to home, a man in Arizona died and his wife is in the hospital after they ingested a version of chloroquine phosphate meant to clean fish tanks, the woman and Banner Health said Monday. The wife told NBC News that she and her husband got the idea to self-medicate after watching Trump's news conference.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 costly cartoons about the national debtCartoons Political cartoonists take on the USA's financial hole, rare bipartisan agreement, and Donald Trump and Mike Johnson.
-
Green goddess salad recipeThe Week Recommends Avocado can be the creamy star of the show in this fresh, sharp salad
-
The Biden cover-up: a 'near-treasonous' conspiracyTalking Point Using 'Trumpian' tactics, the former president's inner circle maintained a conspiracy of silence around his cognitive and physical decline
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
