Covid-19: Doctors warned against drug combo pushed by TrumpApril 22, 2020 - 12:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Doctors should not use a drug combination strongly pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump to treat patients with coronavirus infections, a National Institutes of Health panel says in new guidelines published Tuesday. And any other experimental drugs should only be tried as part of a clinical trial, the panel said, according to CNN. The guidelines, published online, are meant to guide doctors, nurses and other medical professionals treating patients with Covid-19 and will be updated in real time as more is learned in fighting the pandemic, the NIH said. Trump has touted an antimalarial drug known as hydroxychloroquine, especially in combination with an antibiotic azithromycin, for treating Covid-19 even though there has been no medical recommendation to use it. Although a few very small studies have suggested it might help patients recover, more and more studies have shown that the drug combination may do little or no good and may increase the rate of other complications. Asked about the NIH guidance on hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin during Tuesday, April 21's White House coronavirus task force meeting, President Trump said, "we'll take a look at that. I'm always willing to take a look." The guidelines give details on which drugs should be used, but also when and how to provide extra oxygen to patients struggling to breathe, how to safely use equipment on potentially infectious patients and include what's known about heart, liver and kidney complications in patients. The panel also urges caution in another treatment making headlines: the use of plasma from Covid-19 survivors. "There are insufficient clinical data to recommend either for or against the use of convalescent plasma or hyperimmune immunoglobulin for the treatment of COVID-19," it said. More than 825,000 cases of Covid-19 have been registered in the United States so far, with over 45,000 deaths and more than 75,000 recoveries. Top stories Azerbaijani authorities report that they have already resettled 3,000 people in the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Stepanakert. On June 10, Azerbaijani President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will leave for Turkey on a working visit. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. Partner news | Viva sees growing demand for cloud services In recent years, medical institutions are starting to make use of Viva’s cloud services Armenian, German presidents meet in Berlin Armenian and German Presidents Vahagn Khachaturyan and Frank-Walter Steinmeier met in Berlin. Armenia assumes presidency of Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities The Commission on Television and Radio of Armenia said it expects productive cooperation in various formats. Balance of attached cards in the Idram&IDBank app From now on, users will be able to view the online balances of cards issued by ArCa system banks and attached to the app. |