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US President Donald Trump has already pushed hydroxychloroquine and chrloroquine as effective treatments for coronavirus. But, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has removed dosage guidance from its website for a pair of anti-malarial drugs. The agency CDC reportedly added the dosing information on its official website after pressed by Trump for the supposed drug. The anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine is more widely offered for use in treating the coronavirus. The CDC page included anecdotal evidence of the drugs’ effectiveness prior to its removal, instead of presenting clinical trial data. Dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, Dr. Lynn Goldman said, “Why would CDC be publishing anecdotes. That doesn’t make sense. This is very unusual”.

Goldman was one of several medical professionals perplexed and disappointed that the CDC would push drug recommendations without citing or relying on clinical data. The updated language removes any reference to anecdotal results, but said that there are no known treatments for the virus. Jeffrey Flier is former Dean of Harvard Medical School and one of the doctors who initially criticized the CDC. He said, “There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19. It states the facts without in effect recommending that physicians prescribe the drugs despite a lack of adequate evidence”.

Donald Trump’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned against rushing in to use the drug without proper testing. He informed Fox News and said, “I think we’ve got to be careful that we don’t make that majestic leap to assume that this is a knockout drug. We still need to do the kinds of studies that definitively prove whether any intervention, not just this one, any intervention is truly safe and effective”. Moreover, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has pushed for the drug based on the advice of a self-described simple country doctor named Vladimir Zelenko.