Coronavirus Treatment: Arizona Man Dies After Ingesting Chloroquine, The Drug Trump Touted

An Arizona man died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate in an attempt to protect himself from COVID-19. Pharmaceutical chloroquine is used to treat malaria, and President Donald Trump recently described it as well as another drug as "game changers" in the fight against COVID-19.

The man and his wife both ingested a chloroquine phosphate additive used to clean fish tanks in the hope of protecting themselves against coronavirus. Both are in their 60s and, therefore were at a higher risk for developing a severe case of COVID-19.

However, the couple needed emergency medical care within half an hour after ingesting chloroquine phosphate and had to be rushed to the nearby Banner Hospital. Unfortunately, the husband eventually died while his wife remains under critical care.

"Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so," Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director Dr. Daniel Brooks said. "The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health."

Chloroquine poisoning in Nigeria

Health officials in Nigeria recently warned people against self-medicating with chloroquine to prevent or treat the coronavirus after three people were hospitalized because of chloroquine poisoning.

The chloroquine-related cases come a week after President Trump claimed at a White House briefing last week that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved chloroquine to treat the coronavirus -- the FDA clarified that the agency was still studying the drug’s effectiveness and safety against COVID-19. In fact, there is so far no FDA-approved drug specifically for use against COVID-19. Chloroquine is approved for other illnesses but, so far, not for COVID-19.

However, this did not stop many people's heightened interest in the drug, particularly in Nigeria where chloroquine is already widely used to treat malaria. The price for chloroquine in the African country reportedly jumped 400% within minutes. A Lagos-based lawyer even told CNN that a pharmacist endorsed the drug to every customer by saying that Trump has said that it can cure coronavirus.

Chloroquine

Chloroquine is a drug typically used to treat malaria as well as other conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Chloroquine as well as another drug that Trump endorsed, hydroxychloroquine, are currently being studied for use against COVID-19 because they have been shown in laboratories to be effective against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses, including the one that causes COVID-19.

However, this does not automatically mean that these drugs are effective and safe to use for COVID-19. This means that people should not use it to self medicate in attempts to treat or prevent the virus.

Again, there is so far no drug that is U.S. FDA has approved for the prevention or treatment of the coronavirus. As such, people are also advised to be wary of anyone promoting their products to be FDA-approved to treat, prevent or cure COVID-19.

"The FDA is closely monitoring the market to combat these products with fraudulent claims," the FDA said in a statement. "It is unacceptable that anyone would take advantage of Americans during this public health crisis, and the FDA wants to make sure everyone knows what legitimate products are being developed."