COVID-19 therapeutics: How to sow confusion and break public trust during international public health emergencies

Abstract

Since SARS-CoV2 was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, those tasked with the stewardship of public health at a global, regional, and local level - policymakers, politicians, scientists, drug regulators, health officials, professional associations, journal editors, publishers, and clinicians - have displayed rushed decisions and lapses in judgment in their handling of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as potential COVID-19 therapeutics and prophylactics. These lapses merit noting as they hold lessons for how the guardians of medicines regulation and public health can inadvertently sow confusion and damage public trust.