US regulator approves limited use of malaria drugs for virus

A limited emergency-use authorisation for two antimalarial drugs touted as game-changers by President Donald Trump has been issued by US Food and Drug ministration to treat coronavirus patients. In a statement published Sunday, US Department of Health and Human Services detailed recent donations of medicine to a national stockpile - including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, both being investigated as potential COVID-19 treatments.

It said FDA h allowed m "to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and ult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is t available or feasible." Trump said last week that two drugs could be a "gift from God," despite scientists warning against dangers of overhyping unproven treatments.

Many researchers including Anthony Fauci, United States' leing infectious disease expert, have urged public to remain cautious until larger clinical trials validate smaller studies. Two US medical bodies - National Institutes of Health and Biomedical vanced Research and Development Authority are currently working to plan such trials.

Some in scientific community fear Trump's endorsement of medicines could create shorts for patients who need m to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, diseases for which y are approved. US has more than 140,000 vel coronavirus cases and 2,489 deaths, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.