The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are continuously warning against the widespread use of two antimalarial drugs- hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, both of which are being highly promoted by President Donald Trump.

The organization stated on Friday that instead of treating the virus, it can cause severe long term health conditions like heart problems and if your immune system is relatively weaker, the drugs might also result in death.

Source: Reuters

In a press brief on April 5th, Trump once again showed his insensitivity and despite the warnings from all the major health departments, he said, “What do you have to lose? Take it.”

This is why the FDA was forced to refute his statement on Friday after health experts said that people were using chloroquine in large amounts when it is having the opposite effect on their immune systems. A small clinical trial in Brazil was stopped after the patient who was given chloroquine for coronavirus treatment, experienced irregular heart rates. Not only that but more than a dozen people died as a direct result of the drug.

A study has been urgently prepared by the medical experts and they say, “The preliminary findings of this study suggest that the higher [chloroquine] dosage should not be recommended for critically ill patients with COVID-19 because of its potential safety hazards, especially when taken concurrently with azithromycin and oseltamivir.”

The FDA did approve the use of these drugs in March as a possible treatment for coronavirus but after certain clinics tested them, they sent back negative reports.

Therefore, the department said, “FDA is concerned that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are being used inappropriately to treat non-hospitalized patients for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or to prevent that disease,” according to the drug warning. “These medicines have a number of side effects, including serious heart rhythm problems that can be life-threatening.”