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MONDAY, June 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has withdrawn its emergency authorization for the use of chloroquine phosphate and hydroxychloroquine sulfate in the fight against COVID-19.<\/p>\n
The agency said in a letter Monday that the drugs are “unlikely to be effective” as treatments for COVID-19. The FDA now says the drugs should not be used outside of clinical trials.<\/p>\n
Despite its earlier cautious approval, this is not the first time the agency has voiced concern about the experimental medicines. The FDA had already issued a warning that they might cause dangerous heart rhythm abnormalities. The FDA in March sanctioned use of the drugs in hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. But after reviewing data on the drugs, the FDA has now concluded that the risks of taking them outweigh any benefit.<\/p>\n
FDA chief scientist Denise Hinton said in the letter that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority had asked that the drugs’ authorization for COVID-19 treatment be revoked. The authority is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that oversees treatments in public health emergencies.<\/p>\n