WASHINGTON – 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.