The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quietly deleted large chunks of its guidelines on hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, two anti-malaria drugs President Donald Trump has claimed to be potentially effective treatment for COVID-19 (they have not been proven to treat the virus).
Eli Lee, a researcher at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) watchdog organization, flagged on Tuesday that the CDC’s advisory on coronavirus treatment no longer includes details of how “some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally different hydroxychloroquine dosing,” and that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are “reportedly well-tolerated in COVID-19 patients.”
The site also previously stated that the two drugs “are currently recommended for treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in several countries.”
The advisory did not provide any sources or names in those anecdotes.
The section on hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine has now been whittled down to one paragraph explaining that they are merely “under investigation in clinical trials.”
NEW: The CDC has updated its guidance on the controversial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, first published on March 21. Potential hydroxychloroquine dosages, based on anecdotal reports, have been removed. See before and after below. https://t.co/qwTYmaG1Z3 pic.twitter.com/kWeDAQSGf7
— Eli Lee ? (@elilee_) April 7, 2020
Reuters reported last week that those anecdotes had appeared on the CDC website shortly after Trump had privately tried to pressure health officials into using hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19. Neither of the drugs have been tested for the virus.
