Hydroxychloroquine, Lupus, and COVID-19

I belong to several lupus groups on Facebook. In the last several weeks, I cannot even begin to count the number of people who have said that they cannot get their hydroxychloroquine because their pharmacy doesn’t have any stock. This has never been an issue before.

What is Hydroxychloroquine?

Hydroxychloroquine, also known as Plaquenil, is a medication used to treat malaria infections that are caused by mosquito bites. This medication has also become a staple for people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, as it, along with other medications, help keep symptoms at bay. 

Other medications like prednisone work great as well, but the end goal for prednisone is to be tapered off of it completely or be on the lowest dose possible due to the many side effects. I have personally been on hydroxychloroquine for as long as I can remember, as it has always worked well for me.

When I heard that hydroxychloroquine was being tested as a possible treatment for COVID-19, I was happy. While most people with coronavirus eventually get better, other people never recover. Anything that can help people with this illness is terrific news.

However, after the president announced hydroxychloroquine as the miracle drug that would cure the world, of course, people went nuts. Based on what I’ve read in some of the Facebook groups that I belong to, many pharmacies were dispensing limited amounts of medicine to people with existing prescriptions. Some pharmacies refused to dispense the drug altogether. Some doctors weren’t even willing to give their patients a new prescription if their previous one had run out. 

I read an article today, where a lupus patient received an email from her doctor’s office advising her that her Plaquenil was going to be stopped. The doctor’s office “thanked her for her sacrifice,” as this medication would now be used to treat those that are critically ill.

There isn’t enough evidence to suggest that hydroxychloroquine is the miracle cure that everyone has been looking for as it relates to COVID-19. In fact, a recent study indicates that hydroxychloroquine treatment is no better than standard COVID-19 care. 

The problem is that the government has already called this medication a “gift from God” and a “miracle drug.” Doctors have been given the green light to prescribe hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. This isn’t good news for people with lupus if pharmacies will continue withholding it from people who need it. Lupus patients, in many cases, are being left out in the dark and without their much-needed medicine.

As soon as this hysteria began, I promptly sent a text to my pharmacy, PocketPills, to see if there were any Plaquenil shortages. I was assured that there would be no issue in receiving my medication. If you want to check them out, click here (use referral code florq0x to get a $10 Amazon gift card upon signing up!)

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for all people. People are being forced to sacrifice their own health based on the notion that this medication is the COVID-19 cure that the world has been waiting for. 

We should never have to worry about going without the medication that we know works for us, especially when its effectiveness in treating coronavirus hasn’t yet been proven. We should never have to risk becoming seriously ill because we can’t get the medicine that we need. I hope that all the people who need to realize this realize it soon.