Doctor slams Trump taking hydroxychloroquine as ‘reckless’ and ‘very dangerous’

Dr Hilary Jones just called out President Donald Trump’s ‘reckless’ comments about taking anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to prevent Covid-19.

It all started on Monday when Trump admitted to taking the drug, even though experts have repeatedly warned that there's no evidence that it works against coronavirus.

Trump said:

A lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy... You'd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers... before you catch it. The frontline workers... many, many are taking it. I happen to be taking it.

Trump explained he’s been taking it for “a couple of weeks” and he’s heard “a lot of good stories” about it from others.

In response, Dr Hilary said it was ‘very dangerous’ advice:

‘It's very dangerous to advise – when you're not qualified – a drug that is known to be very toxic. If you look at the list of side effects, they’re huge. Bone marrow suppression, anaemia, deafness, heart irregularities, enlargement of the heart muscle, liver damage – the list is endless. And he’s saying to people [to] go and take it. He’s like a drug pusher.

Host Lorraine Kelly pressed:

How reckless do you think that is?

The TV doctor responded:

Very reckless! Actually, it could lead to legal cases of people doing it and saying ‘He told me to do it and now I’m ill'... it’s quite possible that people could die. In fact, some clinical trials that were done on hydroxychloroquine suggested the [coronavirus] death rate was higher in people who took hydroxychloroquine thinking that there was some benefit when in fact, there’s no clinical trials to prove it’s been effective.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a warning about the anti-malaria drug last month:

The FDA is aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with Covid-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, often in combination with azithromycin and other QT prolonging medicines.

We would like to remind healthcare professionals and patients of the known risks associated with both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.

In true Trump style, after he found out a Fox News host said the anti-malaria drug “will kill you”, he had a meltdown on Twitter.

Journalist Neil Cavuto said:

If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment... it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you.

Trump then retweeted a bunch of people who slammed the journalist for his news segment.

Adding one final tantrum to his Twitter tirade, Trump added:

At the time of writing, 1.5 million people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US and sadly over 90,000 have died.