The French
government on Wednesday cancelled a decree allowing hospital doctors to
administer hydroxychloroquine as a treatment to patients suffering severe forms
of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.
The ban,
which takes immediate effect, is the first by a country since the World Health
Organisation said on Monday it was pausing a large trial of the malaria drug on
COVID-19 patients due to safety concerns.
The
cancellation of the decree, which in effect means the drug is now banned for
such use, was announced in the government’s official bulletin and confirmed by
a statement by the health ministry.
However, it
did not refer to the WHO suspension.
France
decided at the end of March to allow the use of hydroxychloroquine, which in
addition to malaria is approved for treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, in
specific situations and in hospitals only for treating COVID-19 patients.
British
medical journal The Lancet has reported that patients getting
hydroxychloroquine had increased death rates and irregular heartbeats, adding
to a series of other disappointing results for the drug as a way to treat
COVID-19.
US President
Donald Trump and others have pushed hydroxychloroquine in recent months as a
possible coronavirus treatment.
No vaccine or
treatment has yet been approved to treat COVID-19, which has killed over
350,000 people globally.
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