WY medical board warns about hoarding and misusing drugs for COVID

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Board of Medicine is warning physicians against hoarding and misusing a pair of drugs touted as potential treatments for the coronavirus.

The board’s executive director tells the Casper Star-Tribune the board met Thursday after hearing reports that physicians were writing prescriptions for family and friends for medications usually used to treat malaria, lupus and arthritis. The medications are being used in controlled testing.

The Board of Medicine said it would aggressively investigate reports of inappropriate prescribing related to COVID-19 and misallocation of scarce health resources.

While the specific drugs were not mentioned in the Associated Press article, the Food and Drug Administration did issue an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, on Sunday. These drugs are decades-old malaria drugs.