An Arizona man has died and his wife is in a critical condition after both ingested a form of chloroquine in an apparent effort to guard against Covid-19.
The drug has been touted by President Donald Trump as a possible treatment for the virus.
It is also an additive commonly used to clean fish tanks.
Shortly after ingestion, the couple fell ill, said Arizona-based hospital system Banner Health.
The couple were both in their 60s.
The woman told NBC News she had seen a televised briefing in which Mr Trump discussed the potential benefits of chloroquine as a treatment Covid-19.
The drug has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis but is unproven for use against the novel coronavirus.
"We saw his press conference. It was on a lot, actually," she said. "Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure."
"We were afraid of getting sick," she told NBC.
There are at least 46,548 confirmed cases of the virus throughout the US, with at least 592 deaths.
The couple had used chloroquine previously as a treatment for their koi fish and still had some remaining in their home. This additive is formulated differently than the drug used to treat malaria.
They mixed a small amount of the substance with liquid to drink. Within 20 minutes, both fell ill.
"I started vomiting," she said. "My husband started developing respiratory problems."
Her husband could not be revived in hospital and she remains in critical care.
"Banner Health experts emphasise that chloroquine, a malaria medication, should not be ingested to treat or prevent [Covid-19]," the health group said in a statement.
Given the uncertainty around Covid-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so."
Last week, Mr Trump trumpeted the drug as a potential treatment, writing on Twitter that it had "a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine," when taken with the antibiotic azithromycin.
"We're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately," he said last week at a White House coronavirus press briefing.
"And that's where the FDA has been so great. They've gone through the approval process - it's been approved."
The FDA soon clarified that chloroquine had not been approved, saying there are currently no therapeutics or drugs approved by the body to "treat, cure or prevent Covid-19".
On Sunday, Dr Anthony Fauci - the nation's top infectious disease expert - said on CBS News that the president had heard about the two drugs from anecdotal reports.
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"I… have said I'm not disagreeing with the fact anecdotally they might work, but my job is to prove definitively from a scientific standpoint that they do work," he said.
Mr Fauci, who serves on the White House coronavirus task force, is widely seen as the face of the US response.
Last week, Nigerian health officials also issued a warning regarding the drug's misuse after hospitals in Lagos, the nation's capital, began reporting patients suspected of chloroquine poisoning.
At least three people are believed to be hospitalised and reports have spread of high demand of chloroquine leading to pharmacy shortages, partially fuelled by Mr Trump's comments.
The World Health Organisation "has NOT approved the use of chloroquine for #Covid19 management," the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said in a statement on Friday.
"Please DO NOT engage in self-medication. This will cause harm and can lead to death."
（德國之聲中文網）現有的藥物是否能對治療新冠病毒疾病（Covid-19）有幫助？世界各國的研究者提出了很多設想。目前，"候選"名單上總共有將近70種藥物，其中有治療瘧疾、埃博拉病毒、艾滋病和類風濕的藥物。它們中的一些因已獲得臨床使用的許可，因此與需要從零開始的疫苗相比，能夠更快付諸應用。
這麼多藥物裡，哪些最有希望成為新冠病毒的剋星呢？受德國衛生部的委託，德國醫師藥品委員會就此進行了專業評估。在接受德廣聯詢問時，該機構主席路德維希表示，只對兩種藥用成分抱有希望。
延伸閱讀：各國爭分奪秒搶先研發新冠疫苗
Opinion | An Update on the Coronavirus Treatment
Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin continue to show results for pat
Opinion | An Update on the Coronavirus Treatment
Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin continue to show results for pat
一種是為治療埃博拉病毒開發的瑞德西韋（Remdesivir），在德國將在新冠病毒患者中就此展開兩項較大規模的臨床試驗。另一種是氯奎寧（Chloroquine）以及羥氯奎寧（hydroxychloroquine），這是一種治療瘧疾的常見藥物，被認為很有可能具有抑制病毒的作用。
路德維希表示，在醫師藥品委員會向衛生部提交的評估報告中，上述兩種有效成分是最被看好的候選對象。
臨床研究缺乏說服力
但這都僅僅是推測而已。專家普遍認為，迄今為止為數不多的病例觀察和臨床試驗由於種種不足，無法證明其確實具有療效。路德維希指出，例如有的患者在服用瑞德西韋後病情好轉，其實很可能是症狀的自然消失過程。另一項氯喹寧的臨床試驗在設計和病例數量上都缺乏應有的說服力。柏林夏里特醫學院的病毒學家德羅斯滕（Christian Drosten）也對這項臨床研究表示失望："這樣的研究不能帶給我們任何新的認知。"
世衛組織也對現有的新冠藥物領域臨床研究的水平表達了不滿，認為它們無法提供清晰、嚴謹的佐證，無法為新冠病人的治療帶來幫助。因此該組織將與阿根廷、巴林、加拿大、法國、伊朗挪威、南非、西班牙、瑞士和泰國在這一領域聯合開展一項"團結"（ Solidarity）名為多分支大型臨床研究。重點關注有關藥物是否能降低死亡率，以及是否能減少患者使用呼吸機的必要性。這一新研究的對像也包括瑞德西韋和氯喹寧。
日前，權威刊物《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》刊登了中國研究者撰寫的一篇文章。作者指出，此前被討論和看好的兩種治療艾滋病的藥物，在新冠肺炎患者身上既沒有提高重症患者的存活率，也沒有加速他們的康復進程。
remdesivir好消息
Finally some good news. Doctors may have found a coronavirus wonder drug to treat the deadly virus
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8113093/
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