United States President Donald Trump emphatically defended himself on Tuesday, 19 May, against criticism from medical experts that his announced use of a malaria drug against the coronavirus could lead to wide misuse by Americans of the unproven treatment with potentially fatal side effects.
He said, “If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape...It’s an individual decision to make.”
Amid the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the United States particularly hard, the country's Trump said on Monday, 18 May, that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine daily for the last one-and-a-half weeks.
"I take a pill every day," he was quoted as saying during a meeting of restaurant executives, adding, "Because I think it's good. I've heard a lot of good stories."
While Trump has pushed forward the use of hydroxychloroquine for tackling the coronavirus pandemic, the federal agency Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cautioned about its use, underlining its reported side effects, including "serious heart rhythm problems in patients with COVID-19", reported news agency AFP.
Various experts, too, have questioned the use of the drug to treat COVID-19.
But the US president has reasoned, “It seems to have an impact, and maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but if it doesn’t, you’re not going to get sick or die.”
Trump said on Monday that he has tested negative for COVID-19 and showed "zero symptoms". Two weeks back, Trump's personal valet had tested positive for the highly contagious virus, which has infected over 1.5 million people in the US.
Last month, India had approved the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. "A sizeable chunk of the 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine bought by the US to combat the coronavirus pandemic is from India," Trump had said at the time, thanking PM Modi for the move.
(With inputs from AFP and CNN.)
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