The Food and Drug Administration withdrew its emergency use authorizations for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, the two antiviral medications promoted by President Donald Trump, despite concerns surrounding their effectiveness and safety.
The revocations came in the wake of a request made by Dr. Gary L. Disbrow, Acting Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. The FDA stated in their reply to Dr. Disbrow that they have concluded that “it is no longer reasonable to believe that oral formulations of HCQ [hydroxychloroquine] and CQ [chloroquine] may be effective in treating COVID-19, nor is it reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of these products outweigh their known and potential risks.”
In April, approximately a month after the FDA authorized the emergency use of the two antiviral drugs to treat COVID-19, the agency publicly warned against using the medications due to their potentially fatal cardiac side effects.
With the revocations of the emergency use authorizations for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir is the only remaining drug that is authorized in the United States for use under an Emergency Use Authorization to treat COVID-19.
