FDA commissioner refuses to contradict Trump on hydroxychloroquine

President Donald Trump's chief of the Food and Drug Administration refused to say that hydroxychloroquine should not be used to treat the coronavirus.

The FDA revoked the emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine on June 15 and issued a new warning about potential side effects from the drug July 1, but commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told NBC's "Today" it might still be prescribed to treat COVID-19.

"I have to ask you about hydroxychloroquine," said host Savannah Guthrie. "It's in the news once again. The president retweeted a video promoting it, he even said, 'I took it for a 14-day period, and I'm here. I don't think you lose anything by doing it.' The vice president said yesterday, 'Many Americans have had positive experiences with hydrochloroquine.' The FDA revoked emergency authorization for the drug because it wasn't effective and it wasn't safe, it was potentially dangerous."

"Once and for all, should people be taking hydroxychloroquine?" she added.

Hahn refused to contradict the president and Vice President Mike Pence.

"Just to be clear, we revoked an EUA, emergency use authorization, at the request of another government agency, BARDA (Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority)," Hahn said. "This was authorized for sick, hospitalized patients. We had data that when this drug was combined with others, here were some risks associated with that. But the question you're asking me is a decision between a doctor and a patient. A doctor and a patient needs to assess the data that's out there. FDA does not regulate the practice of medicine. That, in the privacy of a doctor/patient relationship, is where that decision should be made."

Guthrie asked the FDA commissioner, who would be tasked with approving any potential vaccine, if was concerned about misinformation about hydroxychloroquine.

"What I'm concerned about is FDA provide all the information about the side effects, the potential side effects, as well as the efficacy," Hahn said. "As you know, these drugs have been approved for a number of years for other indications by the FDA. We know that they're safe in those settings. We want to make sure the right information is out to providers, so they can make this decision with patients."