Last Updated on April 8, 2020
A 90-year-old New York woman has recovered from coronavirus after doctors, desperate to offer treatment for her severe symptoms, used the malaria drug popularized by President Donald Trump.
Local media reports that Anna Fortunato, a 90-year-old woman living in Long Island, recovered from coronavirus after 13 days in the hospital.
ABC7 New York reports that Fortunato began feeling ill on March 13, a Friday, and told her daughter that she only had a sore throat and assumed she had a cold.
Fortunato’s symptoms continued to worsen throughout the weekend, and her daughter pleaded with her to call an ambulance.
As her symptoms continued to worsen in the hospital, Fortunato’s daughter asked how her mother may receive her last rites from a Catholic priest, and was told it was too dangerous for a priest to enter the hospital.
Then, according to ABC7, Fortunato’s doctors, in desperation, tried the hydroxychloroquine treatment popularized by the president:
As her condition worsened, Gund asked about giving her mother last rites. The hospital said it was too dangerous to bring in a priest.
In desperation, Gund said, Fortunato’s doctors administered an anti-malaria drug repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump. Its safety or effectiveness against the coronavirus have not been proven; some preliminary reports suggest it might help, but there is no way to know whether it has aided in the recovery of any particular patient.
Whether due to that or any other treatment, Fortunato began to improve.
Fortunato was eventually discharged after being hospitalized for 13 days.
While doctors have not been able to pursue long term studies on how the drug may help patients with coronavirus due to the novelty of the disease and the limited resources of the medical community during a pandemic, doctors around the world have provided anecdotal evidence of the anti-malarial drug saving the lives of those suffering with coronavirus.
Recently, a Democrat lawmaker in Michigan credited President Trump and his popularization of hydroxychloroquine for saving her life.
Michigan State House Rep. Karen Whitsett, who represents District 9 in Detroit, said Monday that she credits hydroxychloroquine and President Donald Trump with saving her from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Whitsett says she had heard of the positive effects of hydroxychloroquine before, but she would not have asked for or been given a prescription for the anti-malaria drug if President Trump had not repeatedly touted it during White House press conferences.
Corporate media outlets and Democrats have repeatedly lambasted President Trump for promoting the drug, with CNN claiming the president was offering “unsubstantiated hope” to those suffering from coronavirus.
