Jeff Colyer, a former Kansas governor and practicing surgeon, countered Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s decision to ban anti-malaria medications being used to treat the coronavirus that have been championed by President Trump.
Sisolak, a Democrat, announced new measures on Tuesday to curb the hoarding of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, drugs that have shown anecdotal evidence of treating the coronavirus but have not yet been proven to be effective in combating the illness.
“While the two drugs serve necessary medical purposes, there is no conclusive evidence at this time among COVID-19 experts or Nevada’s own health advisory team that the drugs provide treatment for COVID-19 patients,” Sisolak announced. “The emergency regulation is aimed at preventing hoarding of the drug so that those who actually need them have access to them.”
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Today I signed an emergency directive prohibiting gatherings of groups of 10 or more in any indoor or outdoor public area to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This does not apply to those in the same household or services or patronizing related to an essential business. pic.twitter.com/kQtvI8QnS2
— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) March 25, 2020
In an interview with Fox News, Colyer said he understood the difficulty of making policy during a crisis but claimed he has been using the medication on patients and was seeing some success.
“We are treating people with this combination. It’s important. It’s the only option that we have. You are going to see some more data from our reports later on at the University of Minnesota; there’s also one going on in New York. Anecdotally, though, what we’re seeing is that our patients are doing better,” Colyer said.
The former governor said he would take the drug combination if he were in serious condition after a coronavirus infection. He also said he understood that each state would respond differently, even as he stressed that there were only so many remedies at doctors’ disposal right now.
“This is one of the few options that we have. It is a low-risk medication and has a good safety profile,” Colyer said. “Working with your doctor if there is serious exposure and having his advice, working it with him is the best idea. But as we’re looking forward, I think we are going to see a lot of reports possibly in a week or two about what is happening.”
Pursuing treatment from a doctor is key because unadvised use of the drugs can be fatal. One man in Arizona died after drinking fish tank cleaner containing chloroquine phosphate, the same active ingredient found in the anti-malaria medication.
