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New drugs for covid-19 are well advanced. Therefore, they have experimented with existing drugs, developed for other diseases.

Most commonly mentioned is the malaria drug chloroquine. A smaller French study that has shown positive results has spread like wildfire on social media and among others Donald Trump has declared that "Chloroquine will change the history of medicine".

Swedish doctors also began to give malaria medication to severely ill patients, despite the lack of controlled studies.
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- We did like everyone else and gave chloroquine to the patients in the beginning. There were test tube studies that showed that it had an effect on coronavirus and it was a drug we knew from the treatment of malaria, says Magnus Gisslén, professor and chief physician at the infection clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital / Östra.

But now he has made a complete reversal. Last week, all treatment with chloroquine was stopped against covid-19 in Sahlgrenska.

- There were reports of suspected more serious side effects than we first thought. We cannot rule out serious side effects, especially from the heart, and it is a hard-dosed drug. In addition, we have no strong evidence that chloroquine has an effect on covid-19.

The fact that some seriously ill covid-19 patients have acute heart problems has raised concerns that chloroquine may be harmful to some patients.

Have you had cases with severe side effects?

- Not as I know in Gothenburg, but suspected cases from other clinics have been reported.
The hospitals in Stockholm continue to provide chloroquine

The risk of serious side effects, combined with the fact that there is still no evidence, ie controlled studies that show that the medicine is effective, is the basis for the decision. The French study that has become so mentioned does not give much to Gisslén.

- It does not meet any requirements that we place on how a study should be done. It has very low evidence value.

All hospitals in the Västra Götaland region follow Sahlgrenska's example. But they are still quite lonely so far. Chloroquine is still given at the major hospitals in Stockholm.

How do you see that you receive different care in different places in Sweden?

- We are receiving signals that several regions are about to stop giving chloroquine. I am very confident in what I have come up with and think that is how you should handle it. We cannot do experimental medicine. At least we need to know that we do no harm.

Several major studies in the world have been initiated on drugs that may help covid-19 patients. Magnus Gisslén believes that the first answers may come within a month.

- If it then turns out that chloroquine is good, then of course we should use it. But before that, we will not risk patients' health by giving it.

READ MORE: Rumor or facts about the new corona virus
Poison Information Center: Very unpleasant side effects

Anna Myrnäs, chief medical officer at the Poison Information Center, has seen an increase in the number of questions from the health service regarding serious side effects of chloroquine.

"The risk we see from our side is that it is a preparation that has very unpleasant side effects, including sudden cardiac death," she says.

She confirms that there are signs that covid-19 patients have been harmed by the drug.

- We do not think that everyone who now prescribes this in the intensive care units is fully aware of how severe the side effects can be, especially in already seriously ill patients.

At Sahlgrenska, patients currently receive classic IVA treatment with oxygen, but no antiviral drugs.

- We might have made another assessment if covid-19 was a disease with very high mortality, for example 80 per cent dead, but now we can manage most people who are intensive care anyway, says Magnus Gisslén.

He is self-critical that he let himself be drawn into the chloroquine.

- In retrospect, I can regret that we did. We were a bit naive and thought the side effect profile was much nicer. I have changed my mind and hope that the rest of the country does too.

In Stockholm, the Södersjukhuset has also stopped giving chloroquine, this confirms chief physician Anders Håkansson in an e-mail:

"It depends on the combination of factors:

1. We have not seen any obvious positive clinical effects.

2. Potential risk of side effects.

3. Against this background, we would like to await the results of the controlled studies in other countries. "