May 20, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump says he plans to stop taking hydroxychloroquine "in a day or two"

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to stop taking hydroxychloroquine as a defense against the novel coronavirus when his regimen finishes "in a day or two."

Why it matters: The FDA warned last month that the antimalarial drug appears to cause some serious and potentially life-threatening side effects in coronavirus patients.

Flashback: On Tuesday, when pressed on the FDA's warning, Trump responded by attacking a non-peer reviewed study that found an increased risk of death associated with patients who were only treated with the antimalarial drug — calling it a "false study."

Trump said on Monday that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for "about a week and a half."

Go deeper: Trump dismisses FDA warnings about hydroxychloroquine

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Ursula Perano

21 hours ago - Health

Medical journal retracts study that fueled hydroxychloroquine concerns

Photo: George Frey/AFP via Getty Images

The Lancet medical journal retracted a study on Thursday that found that coronavirus patients who took hydroxychloroquine had a higher mortality rate and increased heart problem than those who did nothing, stating that the authors were "unable to complete an independent audit of the data underpinning their analysis."

Why it matters: The results of the study, which claimed to have analyzed data from nearly 96,000 patients on six continents, led several governments to ban the use of the anti-malarial drug for coronavirus patients due to safety concerns.

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Axios

Updated 22 hours ago - Health

World coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East all recorded spikes in coronavirus infections Thursday as cases spread to new hot spots worldwide.

By the numbers: More than 6.5 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide and over 2.8 million have recovered from the virus. Over 387,000 people have died globally. The U.S. has reported the most cases in the world with over 1.8 million.

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Axios

Updated 17 hours ago - Health

U.S. coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios. This graphic includes "probable deaths" that New York City began reporting on April 14.

The Department of Health and Human Services moved on Thursday to require that an individual's race, ethnicity, age and sex be submitted to the agency with novel coronavirus test results.

Why it matters: Some cities and states have reported the virus is killing black people at disproportionately high rates. There are gaps in the national picture of how many people of color are affected, since the data has not been a requirement for states to collect or disclose.

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