{"id":72037,"date":"2020-05-29T05:18:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T05:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/05\/29\/va-says-itll-stop-almost-all-use-of-unproven-drug-on-vets-for-coronavirus\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:41:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:41:25","slug":"va-says-itll-stop-almost-all-use-of-unproven-drug-on-vets-for-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2020\/05\/29\/va-says-itll-stop-almost-all-use-of-unproven-drug-on-vets-for-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"VA says it\u2019ll stop almost all use of unproven drug on vets for coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Thursday that his department has all but stopped use of an unproven malaria drug<\/a> on veterans with COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a House hearing, he defended initial use of hydroxychloroquine<\/a> on coronavirus patients as justified \u201cto give them hope,\u201d given few treatment options at the time. But Wilkie said that government-run VA hospitals have \u201cratcheted it down\u201d \u2014 to just three prescriptions in the last week \u2014 as studies pointed to possible dangers <\/a>and other possible treatments were brought online. \u201cI expect that trend to continue in the future,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump has heavily pitched the drug \u2014 even saying in recent days he had been taking it to prevent coronavirus infection \u2014 without scientific evidence of its effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are all learning as we go in this crisis,\u201d Wilkie told a House appropriations subcommittee. \u201cOur mission is to preserve and protect life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t