COVID-19 update: Man in the United States dies after self-medicating with chloroquine

Arizona : A man from Arizona in the United States had died and his wife is critical after the couple took chloroquine phosphate as an effort to self-medicate themselves against coronavirus.

The USA had approved ‘chloroquine’ — an anti-malarial drug — for use as a treatment against the new coronavirus, said US President Donald Trump.

“We’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately, and that’s where the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has been so great,” Trump told reporters. “They’ve gone through the approval process — it’s been approved. They took it down from many, many months to immediate. So we’re going to be able to make that drug available by prescription.”

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for health workers and family members treating coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, has now become the most sought after medicine after reports emerged that it is proving effective in the fight against coronavirus.

It is being claimed that chloroquine has disappeared from the drug stores in Indore and some even claim that the drug is being supplied to the United States.

As per the initial study, chloroquine treatment of COVID-19 patients had clinical and virologic benefit versus a comparison group. Chloroquine was added as a recommended antiviral for the treatment of COVID-19, though clinical trials is still going on.

Sources said that pharmaceutical company Ipca Laboratories share price surged over 12 percent on Monday after the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) partially lifted the import ban on chloroquine supply. Ipca Laboratories manufactures chloroquine. It has also informed the BSE and the NSE about the demand for the drug in the US.

It has said in the filing to the exchanges that due to the shortage implications or medical necessity of certain drugs and finished products, the FDA has made an exception to the import of the company’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and finished products including Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate and Chloroquine Phosphate produced at the Company’s manufacturing units.

The president of Indore Drug Association told IANS, “it is true that this drug is not available over the counter in Indore.”

However, Ipca lab refused to answer queries on the US demand for the drug saying it is a corporate matter.

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