US doctors are hoarding supplies of drugs that are being tested for treating coronavirus, a disconcerting new report reveals. A ProPublica investigation found that doctors are prescribing drugs like hydroxychloroquine, a therapeutic approved for treating malaria and lupus that President Trump has hailed as a promising drug for coronavirus, to themselves. Hydroxychloroquine has shown some potential for treating coronavirus in China, where production of the drugs has resumed (pictured). A University of Utah drug shortage monitoring program reports shortages already for hydroxychloroquine tablets made by four companies - Amneal, Mylan, Major and Teva. Doctors are only meant to prescribe it some coronavirus patients, largely for the purpose of collecting data on the drug's effects in combination with the common antibiotic, azithromycin.

Source: Daily Mail March 24, 2020 22:04 UTC