63 million doses of hydroxychloroquine now sit in the federal government stockpile after US Food and Drug Administration revoked permission for the drug to treat COVID-19 patients.
President Donald Trump endorsed the drug in late March, touted it as “very encouraging” and “very powerful” and a “game-changer” prompting the government to start stockpiling and distributing hydroxychloroquine.
However, the FDA announced on Monday that there was “no reason to believe” that the drug was effective against coronavirus and it rather increased the risk of side effects, which includes heart problems.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Carol Danko, the Strategic National Stockpile is now left with 63 million doses of hydroxychloroquine, and another 2 million doses of chloroquine – a related drug donated by Bayer.
A number of public health experts call this as so far an unfortunate chapter in the history of the pandemic.
David Holtgrave, dean of the School of Public Health at the University at Albany and the co-author of the study that focused on use of the drug to treat coronavirus said, “Nationally, we put a great emphasis on one drug, hydroxychloroquine.”
“I worry that history will judge this as having over-invested in one treatment pathway as opposed to looking more broadly at a larger number of treatment candidates,” he added.
The stockpile had already distributed 31 million doses of the drug before the FDA revoked its authorization.
Danko wrote in a statement that the HHS is now working with the companies who donated the product to look at available options now that the product remains in the Strategic National Stockpile.
The FDA’s decision did not go over well at the White House.
Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro, who helped distribute 19 million hydroxychloroquine furiously said in an interview Monday night, “This is a Deep State blindside by bureaucrats who hate the administration they work for more than they’re concerned about saving American lives.”