Arizona man dies after taking chemical to try to protect himself from coronavirus
Dead man's wife is in critical condition
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Emergency room doctors and poison control experts are warning the public against using inappropriate medications and household products to prevent or threat coronavirus.
Banner Health is raising the alarm after a Phoenix couple took chloroquine phosphate - an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks - in hopes of fending off the illness.
It's believed they confused the chemicals with the drug chloroquine. It's a malaria medication recently mentioned during a coronavirus briefing by President Donald Trump. Banner experts say it shouldn't be used to treat, or prevent, coronavirus either.
The man and his wife were both in their 60's. Doctors say the began to suffer the effects of poisoning within a half-hour of ingesting the chemicals. The husband died. The wife is in critical condition at a Banner hospital in the Phoenix area.
“Given the uncertainty around COVID-19 [coronavirus], we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so,” said Dr. Daniel Brooks, Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director, in a statement released Monday afternoon.
“The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health.”
Banner says most people who contract coronavirus will only require symptomatic care and self-isolation to prevent the risk of infecting others. Its doctors urge people who fear they've contracted the illness to contact their primary physician by phone before seeking treatment at an emergency room.
