CIA warns of potentially fatal side-effects of Malaria drug

Washington: CIA employees have been privately warned against taking an anti-malaria drug hailed by Donald Trump as a 'game changer' in the war on coronavirus.

Sudden death is one of the suspected side effects of hydroxychloroquine, according to the intelligence agency in a memo to its workforce posted online.

Despite a lack of medical evidence, the President has heavily promoted the drug as a possible treatment for Covid-19, which has killed 23,675 and infected 588,421 in the United States. But amid positive noises surrounding the drug emerging from the daily White House press briefings, Langley made its concern clear.

Hydroxychloroquine is 'not recommended to be used by patients except by medical professionals prescribing it as part of ongoing investigation studies,' according to the advice seen by the Washington Post.

The advice, posted on March 27 in response to CIA staff queries, noted that possible side effects include 'sudden cardiac death'. The CIA did not respond to the newspaper's request for a comment.

Trump has been a major cheerleader of taking hydroxychloroquine in concert with an antibiotic for those infected with the virus, pointing to a study in France which scientists have treated with scepticism. He has tweeted that the drug could be 'one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine' and should 'be put in use immediately.

And when grilled by reporters over his advocacy of the drug, he said: 'What do I know, I'm not a doctor. But I have common sense.' In promoting the drug's possibilities, the President has often stated: 'What have you got to lose?'

But the President's championing of the drug has not been echoed by his closest advisers and have seen splits among the taskforce in Washington steering the health crisis strategy.

Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who has been a podium staple during the daily briefings, has urged Americans not to take the drug. Answering questions on March 23 on whether he would prescribe the drug, he said 'the answer is no' and said there was only 'anecdotal evidence'. In signs of growing rifts in the top team Trump last week even stepped in and prevented Fauci from answering a question about hydroxychloroquine.

The side effects of hydroxychloroquine warned by the CIA have also been replicated in other studies.

Scientists in Brazil have stopped part of a study of the malaria drug after heart rhythm problems developed in one-quarter of people given the higher of two doses being tested.

The Brazilian study, in the Amazonian city of Manaus, had planned to enroll 440 severely ill COVID-19 patients to test two doses of chloroquine, but researchers reported results after only 81 had been treated.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi has pledged to donate 100 million doses if tests are proved efficient. The company said in a statement that the hydroxychloroquine doses will be given to 50 countries.Sanofi is also ramping up production, aiming to quadruple is capacity to manufacture the drug.

The company said it 'will continue to donate the medicine to governments and hospital institutions if ongoing clinical studies demonstrate its efficacy and safety in Covid-19 patients'.

But it also warned that hydroxychloroquine has 'several serious known side-effects' and tests are so far inconclusive over its safety and efficacy in treating Covid-19.' While hydroxychloroquine is generating a lot of hope for patients around the world, it should be remembered that there are no results from ongoing studies, and the results may be positive or negative,' it said.