Rules in action

Last month, the Hubei Health Commission ordered all medical professionals to strictly monitor patients taking chloroquine phosphate, because an overdose could result in sudden death.

While the commission noted that there have been no reported cases of deaths related to overdoses of the drug, the statement reminded medical professionals to be careful when administering it, as the country plans to roll out more clinical trials of chloroquine phosphate.

Following the Hubei statement, the National Health Commission issued a more detailed guideline for the drug, listing suitable patient demographics and dosage, plus contraindications and precautions.

Experts hope the guidelines will discourage people from taking chloroquine phosphate without proper supervision, especially as some domestic pharmaceutical companies have announced that they are ramping up production to make the drug more easily available.

In his "clinical diaries", a regular bulletin for medics, Tong Chaohui, vice-president of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said chloroquine phosphate was developed in the 1950s, but the low number of malaria cases in recent decades mean Chinese people and medical professionals may not be familiar with it.

"Every time there is an epidemic, people always want to find a wonder drug to control it－unfortunately, there has never been a wonder antiviral drug," he wrote.

"Researchers must be self-disciplined, conduct clinical trials rigorously and avoid conflicts of interest. The more difficult the situation, the more adamantly scientists should safeguard the bottom line of science and medicine."