Fauci’s Agency Says Don’t Use Trump-Promoted Coronavirus Drug Cocktail Because of ‘Potential for Toxicities’

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A National Institutes of Health panel has issued a recommendation against treating Covid-19 patients with a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin — which President Donald Trump has previously promoted — because of the “potential for toxicities.”

For weeks, Trump has been promoting a variety of unproven treatments for the coronavirus — including chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and this cocktail — despite warnings of caution and mixed results in limited studies.

Now, an NIH panel put together by Dr. Anthony Fauci’s agency — the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — has issued a recommendation against treating with the cocktail, and urged caution when treating with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.

“Except in the context of a clinical trial, the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel)” recommends against the treatment of Covid-19 patients with “The combination of hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin (AIII) because of the potential for toxicities,” the panel wrote.

They also wrote that “The combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was associated with QTc prolongation” (a cardiac complication that can result in death) “in patients with COVID-19.”

A private CIA website recently offered a similar warning to an employee asking if they should try hydroxychloroquine that is also in line with the NIH panel’s recommendations.

On the subject of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, they wrote that “There are insufficient clinical data to recommend either for or against” the drugs, but added that “If chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is used, clinicians should monitor the patient for adverse effects, especially prolonged QTc interval (AIII).”

And on Tuesday, a very preliminary non-peer-reviewed VA study was released that found patients did worse on these therapies. The findings of that study also noted “hydroxychloroquine use in Covid-19 patients has been associated with cardiac toxicity.”

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