Coronavirus

WHO To Resume Testing Hydroxychloroquine For COVID-19 Treatment

The agency had suspended testing after a study suggested it posed an increased risk of heart issues in COVID-19 patients.

WHO To Resume Testing Hydroxychloroquine For COVID-19 Treatment
John Locher / AP

The World Health Organization will resume testing hydroxychloroquine as a potential coronavirus treatment.

The agency suspended testing due to safety concerns late last month. A large study published days earlier in the Lancet Medical Journal found an increased risk of heart problems and death in COVID-19 patients who received chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.

But the WHO's Data Safety Monitoring Board said testing can continue after its experts found no reason to adjust testing protocols.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "The executive group received this recommendation and endorsed the continuation of all arms of solidarity trial including hydroxychloroquine." More than 3,500 patients in 35 countries will be part of the trial.