Washington, March 22: US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Americans to take a combination of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin drugs apparently to contain the coronavirus outbreak. However, Ed, who is a professor and author of Internal Medicine & Clinical Pharmacology, condemned Donald Trump for "spreading rumours". According to Professor ED, Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin should not be taken together.

In a tweet, Professor ED said: Hydroxychloroquine & Azithromycin should *NOT* be taken together because they increase the risk of fatal cardiac arrhythmia due to QTc prolongation. Do NOT listen to Trump the president. Listen to Ed the professor of pharmacology." He said there is zero proof that Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin are efficacious against coronavirus. Coronavirus Vaccine: US Begins First Human Trial of COVID-19 Vaccination in Seattle.

"HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You!" President Trump tweeted Saturday morning. "Hopefully they will BOTH … be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!” he added. Following Trump's tweet, Hydroxychloroquine went out of stock at many pharmacies.

Reacting to this, Professor ED said: "This is EXACTLY how Trump is going to KILL us! He spreads rumors & anecdotes about an OLD & CHEAP drug that MILLIONS of rheumatological patients rely on. Now with #Coronavirus panic, everybody’s going to buy it (unnecessarily), hiking up its price & leaving the vulnerable exposed."

Earlier in the week, Trump said hydroxychloroquine was among the drugs being tested for treating coronavirus. However, no healthcare agency has so far recommended any drug for treating coronavirus. "Combining Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin to treat coronavirus has not been proven safe and effective through large scale clinical trials," political commentator Edward Hardy tweeted.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 22, 2020 01:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).