France Bans Use of Drug Trump Promoted as Coronavirus Treatment

France has banned the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Coronavirus. President Donald Trump heavily promoted the drug and even claimed he was taking it.

The French health ministry revoked a decree allowing the country’s hospitals to prescribe hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 patients on Wednesday following reports about its dangers.

“Whether [in doctors offices] in the cities or in the hospital, this … should not be prescribed for patients with COVID-19,” the health ministry said.

The decision comes after a report in British medical journal The Lancet claimed that using the drug significantly increased the risk of death and other health problems.

President Trump has been promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Coronavirus for weeks. Despite warnings from medical experts, he touted the malaria medication to the press and his Twitter followers.

The President later claimed he was taking the drug himself. Though there are doubts about whether Trump really did take it, he claimed this week to have finished his treatment.

Trump told conservative Sinclair Broadcasting he had “Finished, just finished,” a course of hydroxychloroquine.

“And by the way, I’m still here…To the best of my knowledge, here I am,” he said.

In addition to France, Italy and Belgium are reportedly moving to stop using the drug to treat Coronavirus, while the World Health Organization has halted a medical trial.

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Darragh Roche

Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media