Against science, state prosecutors recommend chloroquine

State prosecutors in Minas Gerais, Goiás, and Piauí have adopted measures to increase the availability of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, supported by the Health Ministry recommendation of adoption, regardless of scientific evidence proving the drug’s lack of efficacy in treating Covid-19.  

In Piauí state, one prosecutor filed a public injunction asking for the adoption of chloroquine as early treatment, which was then dismissed after the Health Ministry’s ordinance made it moot. In Minas Gerais and Goiás, prosecutors also made recommendations to municipalities to prescribe chloroquine for the early stages of Covid-19. According to newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, the requests include misinformation, links to pro-Bolsonaro websites accused of spreading fake news, disputed studies, or evidence related to chloroquine tested on cells alone, and not in human organisms. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Prosecution Service is asking the Health Ministry about its chloroquine guidelines in an attempt to provide guidance for state prosecutors across the country. In the document, seen by the newspaper, they questioned the low level of testing and how it is possible for doctors to classify whether the patient is in the early stages of the disease.

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