Texas City nursing home residents with coronavirus being treated with unproven hydroxychloroquine

[RandySF]

More than two dozen Texas City nursing home residents who have tested positive for the new coronavirus are being treated with hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that President Donald Trump has touted as a possible treatment for COVID-19, even as medical experts urge caution because it has yet to be vetted for that purpose through robust clinical trials.

The doctor who prescribed it to 27 residents of The Resort at Texas City was Robin Armstrong, the nursing home’s medical director and a prominent GOP activist who serves as a surrogate for the Trump campaign. The drug’s efficacy is being tested at the nursing home, where more than 80 residents and workers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, as its role in treating COVID-19 patients is debated across the country. The federal government has approved it on an emergency basis in some COVID-19 cases, though medical experts — including some inside the Trump administration — have been far less willing to embrace its widespread use.

Armstrong, who said his politics have nothing to do with his practice as a physician, acknowledged that there has not been robust clinical testing of the drug for this purpose, but said he is very familiar with the medication and the risks and benefits it carries. The mortality rate is higher among elderly coronavirus patients, he said, and so he wanted to try something proactive to help them heal — to “treat folks like I would my mom,” he said in an interview Monday evening.

“It’s a vulnerable population — it’s certainly a judgment call,” he said. “It’s responsible if you monitor them properly, and that’s certainly what we’re doing.”

Many of the patients began the five-day course of treatment on Saturday, and all are still at the nursing home.



https://www.texastribune.org/2020/04/06/texas-city-coronavirus-patients-get-unproven-hydroxychloroquine-drug/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Using old people for guinea pigs?

[rockfordfile]

2. He should be arrested if he did it without their permission

[aeromanKC]

3. Isn't it illegal to use drugs for which they are not legally approved for?

Unless of course they do have malaria. Seems this could be way to get a medical license revoked.

[tavernier]

4. If he got permission from both patient and family

then I sincerely hope it works. I just read that it has been banned in another country due to problems with side effects, but if it is strictly monitored and started at low dosage, it would be a wonderful thing if it decreased or eliminated their symptoms. And I don’t give a shit what rump thinks or says either way.

[dalton99a]

5. Dr. Robin Armstrong:

Link to tweet