US President Donald Trump
Washington D.C. [US], May 19 (ANI): US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug that he often touted as a potential treatment for coronavirus.
The President , according to The Hill report, said he consulted with the White House doctor about taking the drug, but it was not explicitly recommended for him since he has not tested positive for the virus.
“I asked him what do you think,” Trump was quoted as saying. “He said, ‘Well if you’d like it.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’d like it. I’d like to take it.’ ” The US President informed that he has been taking the pill for about a week-and-a-half along with zinc.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against its usage outside of a hospital setting, last month, just weeks after it approved an emergency use authorisation for the drug.
Last month, India had allowed the export of millions of Hydroxychloroquine tablets to treat COVID-19Â patients in America. The number of coronavirus cases in the USÂ have risen to 1,496,509 while the death toll has gone up to 89,874.
Nancy Pelosi calls Trump ‘morbidly obese’, says he shouldn’t take hydroxychloroquine not approved by scientists
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday criticized President Donald Trump for taking hydroxychloroquine –an anti-malarial drug which is believed to be helpful in keeping away from coronavirus infection but has not been approved by scientists, adding that he is “morbidly obese” and at risk for negative health effects.
“I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: ‘Morbidly obese,’ they say,” says Pelosi told at CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° on Trump’s revelation he is taking hydroxychloroquine.
Even the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health have not approved the consumption of the anti-malarial drug without any approval by medical practitioners.
According to reports, the drug is rather leading to a significant increase in death rates in the United States. “He’s our president and I rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and his — shall we say weight group — morbidly obese, they say. I think it’s not a good idea,” she said further.
Trump disclosed earlier on Monday that he has been taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine for a week and a half after being prescribed by his personal physician, Sean P. Conley, said in a White House press release that he and the president think taking the drug is worth the possible harmful side effects.
The admission was a dramatic development in Trump’s attempts to promote hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus, which began earlier in the outbreak and has been met with resistance from medical professionals, CNN reported.
But even some of Trump’s closest medical advisers expressed caution, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, who voiced skepticism about touting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus before it could be adequately tested. (ANI)
