Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Spread and Pharmacovigilance Implications: Expert Opinion

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is rapidly spreading throughout the world after emerging in China in December 2019. Currently, there are no approved treatments for COVID-19 based on large clinical trial data, and hence, management involves infection prevention and control measures and supportive care. With anecdotal reports and in vitro studies suggesting that certain medicines already in use for treatment of other conditions could be viable treatment options, there has been an increased demand for these therapies which could have adverse consequences on patients and healthcare systems. Toxicity from these medicines resulting from a mad rush for them at community pharmacies and pressure on physicians to prescribe for individuals who do not have the infection are worth noting. Furthermore, the indiscriminate use of these medicines could result in viral resistance as well as acute shortage such that patients who routinely take them for other conditions may not get them.