Coronavirus Drug Chloroquine Should Not Be Used for COVID-19 Because 'Lethality' Is 'Primary Outcome,' Study Shows

https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-drug-chlorquine-should-not-used-covid-19-because-lethality-primary-outcome-1500119

A randomized clinical trial of whether a malaria drug could be used as a Covid-19 cure was shut down because its "primary outcome" was death, a study published Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed.

Researchers in Brazil looked at 81 patients with Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, from March 23 to April 5 to see whether the drug chloroquine could be an effective treatment for the highly contagious disease. Forty patients were given a low-dose of the drug; 41 others, a high dose. They were also given the antibiotic azithromycin.

The researchers found that 13 people in the low-dose group died, as did 16 in the high-dose group. Another 11 developed heart abnormalities.