Patients with lupus and arthritis lose out following rush for chloroquine

While Chinese and French researchers have conducted studies on Covid-19 using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, concrete results have proven elusive. - AFP

BANGKOK (The Straits Times/ANN): It is yet unproven, but a belief that a drug commonly used to control inflammation could be a ward against the coronavirus has triggered a run on it, making it tough for patients suffering from illnesses such as lupus and arthritis to find relief.

Chronic patients such as teacher Wun Pyae Thidar, a lupus patient from Myanmar's Taungoo city, have had difficulties securing supplies of the anti-malarial drug chloroquine and its derivative hydroxychloroquine.