A Phoenix couple in their 60s took chloroquine - which they'd used to clean a fish tank - with disastrous results after hearing Donald Trump suggest the substance in its medical form could be a 'game changer' in the fight against coronavirus

A man has died and his wife was left fighting for her life after the pair took fish tank cleaner in an attempt to self-medicate for coronavirus.

The couple, from Phoenix, Arizona, took chloroquine phosphate - an additive commonly used in aquariums but which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration in its medicinal form for treating malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

However, they did not take it in its medical form.

President Donald Trump has suggested the additive as a potential treatment for Covid-19, but the FDA has not approved it as a medication for the deadly disease.

Experts from Arizona-based non-profit health system Banner Health have urged people not to take the substance or any other "inappropriate medications and household products" in an attempt to counter the virus, reports CNN.

Dr Daniel Brooks, medical director of Banner Poison and Drug Information Center, said he empathised with those trying to find ways of preventing and treating the virus due to "uncertainty" during the crisis.

However, he said "self-medicating is not the way to do so".

The health system said the couple, both in their 60s, "experienced immediate effects" and were admitted to a nearby Banner Health hospital.

The US president has previously highlighted chloroquine and similar hydroxychloroquine as potential 'game changers' as the pandemic escalates across the world.

He tweeted over the weekend, taking hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin together "have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine"

The Phoenix man's wife, who is now apparently recovering, told NBC News she'd watched televised briefings during which the president talked about the potential benefits of chloroquine.

She said she'd previously used it to treat her koi fish and still had some in the house.

The woman - who did not wish to be named - said the couple were "afraid of getting sick" and so mixed the chemical with liquid and drank some.

"I started vomiting," she said. "My husband started developing respiratory problems and wanted to hold my hand."

She said paramedics "were asking a lot of questions" and she "was having a hard time talking, falling down".

Shortly after reaching the hospital, her husband passed away.

Dr Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert, is one of many in the medical profession to warn that further study is still needed.

He said the drug could be effective against Covid-19 and told CBS on Sunday that Mr Trump had only heard about the combination for a possible treatment through anecdotal reports.

"My job is to prove definitively from a scientific standpoint that they do work," said Dr Fauci, who serves on the White House coronavirus task force.

Banner Health pleaded with health care providers not to prescribe chloroquine to patients outside a hospital setting or risk inundating emergency departments with people "who believe they found a vague and risky solution".

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/coronavirus-man-dies-after-drinking-21743881

Oyinbo and foolishness. But that's how our fellow Nigerians are ransacking every pharmacy for chloroquine. Be advised o

Proximate cause of death; Donald Trump.

Stupidity abi wetin make we call this one

Overdose na sin

It was actually stupid of Trump to have declared chloroquine as a remedy without being a certified health expert on how to administer the drug. This is no different from the salt water and Ebola case. Many ignorant people and even the so called literate ones will misuse the opportunity leading to needless deaths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lggjJRFsMB0

First case of FISHOVIRUS be that.

Watch airport staff reaction as a suspected COVID-19 case is reported in Kano Airport.

This should be a lesson to some Nigerians stockpiling chloroquine

Watch them blame this death on Trump LMAO...