VA says it won’t stop use of unproven drug on vets for now

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing growing criticism, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Friday that it will not halt use of an unproven malaria drug on veterans with COVID-19 but that fewer of its patients are now taking it.

In responses provided to Congress and obtained by The Associated Press, the VA said never “encouraged or discouraged” its government-run hospitals in any way to use the drug hydroxychloroquine on patients even as President Donald Trump heavily touted it for months without scientific evidence.

Still, it acknowledged that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie had wrongly asserted publicly without evidence that the drug had shown benefit on younger veterans. The VA, the nation’s largest hospital system, also agreed more study was needed on the safety and effectiveness of the drug and suggested its use was now limited to extenuating circumstances, such as last-ditch efforts to save a coronavirus-stricken patient’s life.

In the first week of May, 17 patients had received the drug for COVID-19, according to VA data obtained by The Associated Press. The department declined to say how many patients had been treated with hydroxychloroquine for the coronavirus since the start of the virus outbreak in January, but a recent analysis of VA hospital data showed that hundreds of veterans had taken it by early April.

“VA has not endorsed nor discouraged the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients and has left those decisions to providers and their patients,” the VA said. “While all drugs have the potential for adverse events and some drugs in particular, like hydroxychloroquine, are known to have specific risks, when they are used carefully and judiciously, they can be managed safely.”

As of Friday, 11,883 veterans overall have been infected with the virus and 985 have died, according to VA...