Some hospitals in Lagos state have been receiving patients suffering from chloroquine poisoning, according to Gboyega Akosile, chief press secretary to the governor.
Quoting Oreoluwa Finnih, senior special assistant to the governor on health, Akosile warned people against massive consumption of chloroquine as a measure to fight coronavirus.
The demand for chloroquine, an oral artemisinin-based monotherapies (oAMTs) for malaria treatment, soared a few hours after President Donald Trump said the drug had been approved to treat COVID-19.
But Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, contradicted the American president, saying the agency was still working to examine all possibilities.
Residents have trooped to pharmaceutical stores across Lagos and Abuja on Thursday evening to purchase the drug.
In a tweet on Friday, Akosile warned people against harming themselves through the indiscriminate use of the drug.
“Hospitals now receiving patients suffering from Chloroquine Poisoning, says Gov @jidesanwoolu’s SSA on Health, Dr @Oreoluwa_Finnih. She urged people against massive consumption of Chloroquine as a measure to fight #Coronavirus,” he tweeted.
Earlier, health experts had dismissed speculations that the drug could be used in fighting the virus.
