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# Trump Taking Hydroxychloroquine to Prevent Covid-19
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/trump-taking-hydroxychloroquine-to-prevent-covid-19/
- Published: 2020-05-18T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T16:15:08.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5146810

President Trump told reporters at the White House 5/18 that he has been taking the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus. “I’ve been taking it for about a week and a half now and I’m still here,” he said.

Last month, FDA issued a MedWatch [safety alert](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-reiterates-importance-close-patient-supervision-label-use?ref=fdaweb.com) on off-label hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine use for Covid-19 outside of a hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems. President Trump and his allies had been touting the drug for weeks until recently when [new data su](https://www.fdaweb.com/trumps-covid-19-drug-shows-no-benefit-study/)[rfaced](https://www.fdaweb.com/trumps-covid-19-drug-shows-no-benefit-study/) to question its safety and efficacy.

Asked what data he’d seen on the drug’s benefits, Trump responded: “Here's my evidence, I get a lot of positive calls about it.” He also said many medical workers were also taking the drug. “You'd be surprised at how many people are taking, and especially the frontline workers before you catch it, the frontline workers many, many are taking it,” he told reporters.

“These medicines have a number of side effects, including serious heart rhythm problems that can be life-threatening,” FDA said when it issued the MedWatch alert. “We have reviewed case reports in the [FDA Adverse Event Reporting System database](http://s2027422842.t.en25.com/e/er?utm%5Fcampaign=FDA%20MedWatch%20Hydroxychloroquine%20or%20Chloroquine%20for%20COVID-19&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=Eloqua&utm%5Fcampaign=FDA%20MedWatch%3A%20Hydroxychloroquine%20or%20Chloroquine%20for%20COVID-19%20%3A%20Drug%20Safety%20Communication&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=Eloqua&s=2027422842&lid=10425&elqTrackId=EDF2919E1FD92A67D44678ED4D6A1B36&elqTrack=true&elq=4e4bd8efb2ca41e6a4fcdd2438fecc5f&elqaid=12261&elqat=1), the published medical literature, and the American Association of Poison Control Centers National Poison Data System concerning serious heart-related adverse events and death in patients with Covid-19 receiving hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, either alone or combined with azithromycin or other QT prolonging medicines. These adverse events included QT interval prolongation, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, and in some cases, death.”

Earlier this month, a [whistleblower report](https://www.kmblegal.com/sites/default/files/NEW%20R.%20Bright%20OSC%20Complaint%5FRedacted.pdf?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosvitals&stream=top) by ousted Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) director **Rick Bright** detailed how he was removed from his post and reassigned to NIH for opposing the drugֺ’s expanded use for Covid-19 because such use lacked scientific merit, among other issues. He was concerned over the Trump Administration’s promotion of the drug as a “panacea” and its demands that New York and New Jersey be “flooded” with the drug, “which were imported from factories in Pakistan and India that had not been inspected by the FDA.”