We shouldn’t rush to use an unproven malaria drug to treat the coronavirus

As the pandemic deepens, physicians face an agonizing decision — to medicate or not to medicate?

Here’s the dilemma: Over the past few weeks, some small studies suggested a decades-old malaria drug called hydroxychloroquine may have the potential to combat the novel coronavirus known as Covid-19. And as the results trickled out, the tablet has become more valuable than gold.

Prescriptions and hospital orders jumped, causing shortages. State pharmacy boards, in fact, claimed some doctors were hoarding the medicine for themselves. President Trump touted the tablet by saying he had a “feeling” it would work. The widely watched conservative TV host Laura Ingraham tweeted that one seriously ill patient recovered like “Lazarus” after being given hydroxychloroquine.

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