NIH Advises Against Combining Hydroxychloroquine With Azithromycin for COVID-19

With dozens of clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment currently in the planning or enrollment stages, there are mounting concerns that the drug’s risks could outweigh the benefits for COVID-19 patients.

An expert panel of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recommended against the use of hydroxychloroquine with antibiotic azithromycin outside of clinical trials for COVID-19. The NIH panel recommended against the combination because of the potential toxicity and the increased risk of heart problems.

The panel did not make any recommendation on the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine alone, citing insufficient evidence. Physicians who opt to treat COVID-19 patients with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine should closely monitor them for adverse effects, the NIH advised.

A nationwide study of 368 male veterans hospitalized at Veterans Health Administration medical centers found an increased risk of mortality in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine vs. the standard of care.

Last week, early data from a clinical trial in China indicated that hydroxychloroquine may not be a useful treatment for COVID-19. The study of 150 hospitalized COVID-19 patients found that the drug did not improve upon the standard-of-care because more adverse events were observed in the hydroxychloroquine group. — James Miessler