Use of Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine in Treatment of COVID-19: Is it Ethical?

Use of Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine in Treatment of COVID-19: Is it Ethical?

 

Mohamed Farouk Allam, Fady Andraous

Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

 

Central European Jounral of Public Health 2020; 28 (3): 246-247

 

https://doi.org/10.21101/cejph.a6464

 

To date, the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 treatment is restricted to clinical trials. The efficacy of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine in pre- or post-exposure prophylaxis groups is unknown and pending the outcomes of clinical trials.

This raises the following questions: is the current use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, while awaiting RCTs results, ethical? Should the medical community hold off its use while the RCT results pend? Is it ethical to suggest the prophylactic use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for healthcare workers?

 

Keywords: Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine, COVID-19, Clinical Trials, Ethics.

 

Central European Jounral of Public Health 2020; 28 (3): 246-247

https://cejph.szu.cz/pdfs/cjp/2020/03/13.pdf