Los Angeles Times

Column: The bad science behind Trump's chloroquine claims

Jennifer Herrera is down to her last 15 days of a drug she needs to control her inflammatory arthritis. Her pharmacy is out of stock and has no idea when its next shipment will come in.

Her misfortune is that she's dependent on a version of chloroquine, a drug touted by President Trump and others as a treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Pharmacists have been telling patients with arthritis and lupus, an auto-immune condition treated with the drug, that refill supplies are short, if not currently nonexistent.

Novartis, the lead manufacturer of the hydroxychloroquine formulation Herrera takes, Plaquenil, has donated 30 million doses of the drug to the federal government for stockpiling as a COVID-19 treatment.

That raised the hackles of the Lupus Foundation and Arthritis Foundation, which have asked Vice President Mike Pence in a joint letter to ensure that their patients aren't deprived of the medication.

Meanwhile, doctors have been reported to be writing prescriptions for chloroquine for themselves and their families, and prescribing

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