A man in Arizona has died after drinking a small amount of chloroquine phosphate which US President Donald Trump claimed to be a ‘game changer’.
Both man 68, and his wife, 61 took the drug, which is used to treat malaria, in the hopes of protecting themselves from the coronavirus. However, the couple instead of taking the drug form of chloroquine phosphate, ingested a chemical used to treat parasites in fish.
Within 20 minutes, the woman began vomiting and her husband had trouble breathing, Forbes reported. Both were admitted to a Banner Health hospital. The man could not be resuscitated when he arrived at a hospital, and died.
The woman is in critical condition. “Don’t believe anything. Don’t believe anything that the President says and his people because they don’t know what they’re talking about. And don’t take anything—be so careful and call your doctor. This is a heartache I’ll never get over,” the woman said.
Last week, Trump tweeted about the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, saying it had ‘a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine’.
However, there is no conclusive evidence that it is effective against the coronavirus.