Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House’s coronavirus response team, revealed that if he were diagnosed with the coronavirus, he would opt to enroll in a clinical trial.
Fauci, who is the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the comments in a conversation about hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that has shown signs of alleviating the symptoms of COVID-19 in some patients, but there’s little evidence available to prove it combats the virus.
Eric Bolling, the host of Sinclair show America: This Week, asked Fauci whether he’d direct a family member diagnosed with the virus to take hydroxychloroquine.
He explained that he’d direct his adult children to “make their own decision” before explaining that he “would want to go into a clinical trial,” according to Mediaite.
“I would want to do it under the auspices of a clinical trial, a well-controlled clinical trial. With regard to my family, they’re all adults. They would make their own decision based on a discussion between them and their physician and a weighing of the risk-benefit. I think everybody has a different viewpoint, and you’ve got to respect the individual viewpoints of people,” Fauci continued. “That’s the reason why I do not criticize people who, together with their physician, make a decision that they may want to try something.”
Fauci concluded by reiterating his stance that there is “not definitive evidence that it works.”
He added, “And we are not quite sure yet of the toxicities because you’re using it in a different disease, and you’re using it at a much higher dose. Ultimately, as the information gets accumulated, we will get a better idea. And also, I think, importantly, in addition to the off-label use, there are randomized controlled trials that are looking at the safety and the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine.”
