Doctors sues FDA over 'irrational' barriers to hydroxychloroquine

FPI / June 16, 2020

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA for “irrational interference” by the FDA with timely access to hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19.

Hydroxychloroquine has been deemed the most highly rated treatment for the coronavirus in an international poll of more than 6,000 doctors.

The survey, conducted by global health care polling company Sermo, asked 6,227 physicians in 30 countries to find out what works against the virus. The poll found that 37 percent of those treating COVID-19 patients rated hydroxychloroquine as the “most effective therapy.” The physicians picked hydroxychloroquine from a list of 15 choices.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday said it is ending its emergency use authorization for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drugs backed by President Donald Trump to combat the coronavirus.

The FDA determined the drugs were “unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19 for the authorized uses in the EUA.”

In announcing the lawsuit on June 14, Dr. Ned Nokolov tweeted: "Why is an effective & inexpensive drug treatment of #COVID19 being suppressed by FDA? There is one plausible answer: the successful treatment of COVID19 patients with hydroxychloroquine threatens the sale of billions of doses of a COVID19 vaccine to the World later on."

See Nokolov's tweet on the lawsuit here

Free Press International