A general practitioner from southern France has publicly challenged political decisions on chloroquine, the antimalarial drug championed by renowned infectiologist Didier Raoult. This comes as the French government issues a new decree regulating its use for COVID-19 patients.
Chloroquine, long used to treat malaria, has sparked intense debate as a potential COVID-19 therapy. Dr. Didier Raoult, director of Marseille's Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection, cited early Chinese studies and his own trials showing promising results. His advocacy led to Sanofi's Plaquenil—a chloroquine derivative—being included in Europe's DISCOVERY clinical trial alongside other treatments.
On March 26, 2020, La Provence published an open letter from Bernard Giral, MD, a general practitioner and president of the Professional Territorial Health Community (CTPS) in Pays d'Arles. Dr. Giral decried what he called a "chloroquine scandal," criticizing large-scale trials that test the drug only on severely ill patients. He argued it should be used earlier on infected individuals to prevent deterioration.
Hours after Dr. Giral's letter surfaced, Le Parisien reported a new Ministry of Health decree restricting Plaquenil prescriptions for COVID-19 to hospital settings treating confirmed cases—effectively limiting it to the most critical patients. The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) is also developing a therapeutic protocol for clinicians and patient information materials.
This regulatory move is unlikely to satisfy Dr. Giral or the practitioners he represents, fueling ongoing tensions in France's COVID-19 response.
