Fox News' Neil Cavuto hastily warned viewers against using hydroxychloroquine after Trump said he's taking it to prevent coronavirus


Fox News' Neil Cavuto was quick to counter President Trump's comments Monday about the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine after the president said he was taking the medication to ward off the coronavirus.
While Trump, who has long championed the hydroxychloroquine as a way to combat COVID-19 despite a lack of evidence, said he started taking the drug in the last two weeks after hearing some positive reviews, Cavuto wanted to make sure his viewers didn't start taking it just because the commander-in-chief sung its praises.
Cavuto's response to Trump's words were intense — he said that the drug, which the FDA has warned potentially leads to serious side effects, could even prove fatal for "risky" population groups.
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.
When it comes to lethality, doctors have said hydroxychloroquine's potentially fatal side effect — irregular heart rhythm — is "rare," but the lack of research on its effect on seriously ill COVID-19 patients remains insufficient. Self-medicating with the drug for COVID-19 has been linked to deaths in recent months.
Over on CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta similarly pushed back against Trump's latest foray into the medical world, saying bluntly that the president "shouldn't be taking" the drug.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
May 25 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons feature Donald Trump's tariffs, Big pharma, and cuts to Medicaid
-
Why men have a bigger carbon footprint than women
Under the Radar 'Male identity' behaviours behind 'gender gap' in emissions, say scientists
-
5 richly deserved political cartoons about tax breaks for billionaires
Cartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
-
Tied Supreme Court blocks church charter school
speed read The court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders
-
Judge scolds DOJ over Newark mayor arrest
speed read Ras Baraka was arrested during a May 9 surprise visit to a migrant detention facility
-
Trump lectures South Africa president on 'white genocide'
speed read Trump has cut off aid to South Africa over his demonstrably false genocide claims
-
Trump twists House GOP arms on megabill
speed read The bill will provide a $350 billion boost to military and anti-immigration spending and 'cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs'
-
Trump DOJ said to pay $5M to family of Jan. 6 rioter
speed read The US will pay a hefty sum to the family of Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot on January 6
-
Trump DOJ charging House Democrat in ICE fracas
speed read Rep. LaMonica McIver is being charged with assault over a clash outside an immigration detention facility in Newark
-
Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer
speed read The diagnosis hits close to home, as the former president 'dedicated much of his later career to cancer research'