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The Risks of Prescribing Hydroxychloroquine for Treatment of COVID-19—First, Do No Harm

Educational Objective
To understand the dangers of prescribing Hydroxychloroquine for Treatment of COVID-19
1 Credit CME

On March 21, 2020, President Donald Trump tweeted that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin have “a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.”1 The president later said of hydroxychloroquine, “What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: What do you have to lose? Take it.”2

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Article Information

Published Online: April 29, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1853

Corresponding Author: Robert M. Wachter, MD, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 533 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143 (robert.wachter@ucsf.edu).

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

References
1.
@realDonaldTrump. HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains - Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents)… March 21, 2020. Accessed April 17, 2020. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1241367239900778501?lang=en
2.
The White House. Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and members of the Coronavirus Task Force in press briefing. April 5, 2020. Accessed April 21, 2020. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-19/
3.
Vigdor  N . Man fatally poisons himself while self-medicating for coronavirus, doctor says. New York Times. March 24, 2020. Accessed April 17, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/us/chloroquine-poisoning-coronavirus.html.
4.
Liu  M , Caputi  TL , Drezde  M , Kesselheim  AS , Ayers  JW .  Internet searches for unproven COVID-19 therapies in the United States.   JAMA Intern Med. Published online April 29, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1764Google Scholar
5.
International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Statement on IJAA paper. April 3, 2020. Accessed April 10, 2020. http://www.isac.world/news-and-publications/official-isac-statement
6.
Chen  Z , Hu  J , Zhang  Z ,  et al  Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a randomized clinical trial.  Preprint. Posted online April 10, 2020. medRxiv. doi:10.1101/2020.03.22.20040758
7.
Marsh  T . Live updates: which drugs are in shortage because of COVID-19? GoodRx website. Accessed April 13, 2020. https://www.goodrx.com/blog/covid-19-drug-shortages-updates/.
AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

  • 1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
  • 1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
  • 1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
  • 1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
  • 1.00 CME points in the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Continuing Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.

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