Facts for Prelims (FFP)
Source: IE
Context: A new study published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy links hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, to an increased mortality rate of up to 11%, suggesting a possible link to 17,000 deaths.
- Hydroxychloroquine was briefly promoted by former US President Donald Trump and others as a treatment for COVID-19 during the early stages of the pandemic.
While hydroxychloroquine is generally safe, the study underscores the importance of evaluating risks differently when administering it preventively to a large number of healthy people.
Hydroxychloroquine is in a class of drugs called antimalarials and is also an antirheumatic drug. It works by killing the organisms that cause malaria. Hydroxychloroquine may work to treat rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus by decreasing the activity of the immune system.
