I'm not really satisfied with the position taken by Dr. Patrice Harris on hydroxychloroquine
in this interview. She's President of the American Medical Association and says she would not prescribe it to anyone. In this interview she emphasizes that it could kill a patient and takes a bureaucratic line of "It's not approved, so I won't use it."
Drugs are often prescribed by doctors for off-label uses. Just because it is not officially approved for some use does not mean it cannot be prescribed. That's where anecdotal evidence comes from that prompts studies that lead to becoming officially approved. Also, the drug is quite old and one could argue that its side effects are probably better understood than newer medications. It could be harmful, but doctors know the risks and should balance those risks with the risks of doing nothing or trying some other less familiar drug. It has been used in South Korea and China, and limited non-placebo trials have demonstrated benefits.
I suspect she is motivated in her statements more by the problems of hydroxycholoroquine hoarding and the needs of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients which is understandable, but she does not talk about that. It reminds me of face masks. In the Asian Boss interview of Dr. Kim from South Korea, he was mystified by countries at that time advising against wearing masks unless it was due to shortages. It strikes me that Harris has been caught up in the soap opera generated by Trump, and CNN in promoting this video (currently on
cnn.com coronavirus playlist) is using that soap opera for their news.
Gov. Cuomo seemed to have a more reasonable response to the question in
his briefing today. where he mentions that hospitals can use it at their discretion and that limits have been placed on prescriptions to prevent hoarding.
