Another Missouri public health crisis? Don’t hoard malaria drugs to fight coronavirus
Demand in recent weeks for two drugs used to fight malaria has surged in Missouri, and now, chronically-ill patients who need the medicine are at risk as a result.
Chloroquine is used to treat and prevent malaria, and hydroxychloroquine is a milder malaria drug with fewer side effects. For decades, rheumatologists have prescribed them to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
But in recent days, President Donald Trump has touted hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, along with the antibiotic azithromycin, as potential treatments for the coronavirus because a small clinical trial showed a hint of promise. The president’s proclamation was premature. But in a not-so-shocking and hugely problematic development, prescriptions around the world have skyrocketed.
At this point, there is no known drug that has proven to be safe and effective in fighting the novel coronavirus. Preliminary studies revealed that the drugs have risky side effects when used to treat COVID-19. FDA approval could still be years away.
And a shortage of those medications could hasten another public health crisis following the coronavirus outbreak, said Alfred Kim, director of the Lupus Clinic at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“The most important medication for lupus is now unavailable to patients due to the overutilization on COVID-19 patients, where there is minimal data supporting its use,” Kim told The Star Editorial Board.
At least 14 states have restrictions in place to determine who should use the drugs. Missouri is not among them.
Most of the new patients in Missouri have not been tested or diagnosed with lupus, arthritis or coronavirus.
The state could take action to slow hoarding of the drugs and ensure that patients who legitimately need them can still obtain hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. But the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts and the Missouri Board of Pharmacy have failed to enact needed restrictions or regulate bad actors.
The agencies’ less-than-stringent joint recommendation that physicians and pharmacists merely use caution when prescribing and filling requests for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine lacked teeth. And physicians have continued to prescribe the drugs to healthy people.
Only a patient approved by a rheumatologist should be in possession of the drugs. Restrictions could direct that the drugs be prescribed for their intended use, and medical practitioners who failed to adhere to strict limitations would face disciplinary sanctions.
The Lupus Foundation of America and other organizations have asked Vice President Mike Pence to ensure people with lupus continue to have access to their medication.
Amy Ondr, CEO and president of the Foundation’s Heartland Chapter, said officials in Missouri have been unresponsive.
“Lupus patients need to have access to those drugs,” Ondr said.
People with serious and even life-threatening illnesses need these medications. State officials must put a stop to unnecessary hoarding of these prescription drugs.