Rheumatoid arthritis patients face shortage of ‘game changer’ drug

CHENNAI: Hydroxychloroquine, a crucial drug used in the treatment of arthritis, has been unavailable to patients at pharmacies for the last two weeks despite having a genuine prescription. This has created fear among arthritic senior citizens who depend on the drug on a daily basis.Patients have urged the government to boost manufacturing and restocking of the drug, so that patients in need of it may be able to have easy access to it.

Hydroxychloroquine, a medication used to prevent and treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and porphyria cutanea tarda, was declared as a “game changer” in treatment of COVID-19 by American President Donald Trump on March 21, even as there were no large-scale studies to prove it. Panic purchase of the drug in India ensued soon after, leaving pharmacies out of stock. The drug is commonly sold under the brand name HCQS in India.

A pharmacist from Valluvar Kottam told Express that there was a sudden surge of people wanting to purchase HCQS over the counter. “I learned that people were buying the drug preemptively after reading the news. So I stopped selling it to those without a prescription,” he said, adding that many of his regular customers who were prescribed hydroxychloroquine stocked up on the drug predicting the lockdown. This left the pharmacy out of stock within three days of Trump’s announcement, he said. A Vijayalakshmi*, a lupus patient, said her family members went to several pharmacies in West Mambalam in vain. “They took my prescription to at least seven pharmacies that said they were out of stock. Finally, a friend got the tablet at a multi-specialty hospital in Velachery,” she said.

V Krishnamurthy, a rheumatologist and CEO of Chennai Meenakshi Multispeciality Hospital, said many patients said that they were unable to find the drug at pharmacies.He added that there is no proper research to prove that the tablet can cure COVID-19. “Anecdotal cases and limited research have shown that the drug reduces severity of the disease. The drug can reduce the binding ability of the virus with lungs. However, results have only been published in small publications,” he said. Krishnamurthy said that long-term usage of the tablet will cause pigmentation and darkening of skin.

Further, the government on March 27, categorised the drug as a schedule H1 drug, which means prescription is mandatory. On Sunday, the Indian government also banned all export of the drug.

Many people have been using the drug as a prophylactic (medicine intended to prevent disease), said TN Chemists and Druggists Association leader T Nataraj. Health care workers on the  front lines of the pandemic across the world have been taking the drug as a prophylactic. Many people, especially those with relatives staying in the USA, ended up unnecessarily stocking up on the drug, said Nataraj. “There are only 250 or so rheumatologists in Tamil Nadu, and 50 of whom are in Chennai. So manufacturers also produce the drug according to the demand that comes from these doctors’ patients,” he said.