Chloroquine is Potentially Dangerous
Toxicity of Drug Touted by Trump Can Lead to Vision Loss
Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, the as-yet-proven “wonder drugs” for treating COVID 19 infection being touted by President Donald Trump and his water carriers in the pro-Trump media, carry a risk of retinopathy, that is, damage to the retina of the eyes.
Chloroquine was first created in 1934 to treat malaria. It and hydroxychloroquine, which both are available only by prescription, have been employed to treat patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and the autoimmune disease lupus, among other uses.
Taking these drugs to treat COVID 19 infection is risky, as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine toxicity — if undetected and untreated — can cause a patient to permanently lose their central vision The loss of central vision is the result of degeneration to the fovea, the central concave part of the retina. Vision is sharpest at this point in both eyes.
To prevent retinopathy caused by chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, physicians must know the signs and symptoms of ocular toxicity. Patients suspected of degeneration of the fovea need to be screened for toxicity.
According to John Hopkins Lupus Center, Plaquenil, the trade name for hydroxychloroquine in the United States, is the more popular of the two drugs among prescribing physicians. Physicians cite evidence that there are fewer serious side effects to hydroxychloroquine, with chloroquine being used to treat patients where the situation rules out hydroxychloroquine.
Neither drug was designed to treat a coronavirus.
Bayer AG, the German multinational drug company, has donated three million units of chloroquine phosphate to the United States for experimental use. Bayer claims that the use of the drug to treat SARS in 2003 “showed good effects.”
According to the Maine law firm Berman & Simmon, which handles malpractice lawsuits involving Plaquenil, a user should have regular checkups of their retinas with an opthamologist. Retinopathy caused by ocular toxicity generally effects those patients prescribed high dosages hydroxychloroquine, long-term users of the drug (five or more years), or those who have suffered weight loss while taking the drug.
Elderly people are at a higher risk, as are people who already suffer from retinopathy, liver disease, or kidney disease.
