‘It did no good and in some extreme cases killed them’: Fox News host Neil Cavuto renews attack on Donald Trump for recommending hydroxychloroquine by citing studies that have shown it is potentially dangerous

Fox news host Neil Cavuto has renewed his attack on Donald Trump for recommending taking hydroxychloroquine by citing multiple studies that have shown the drug is potentially dangerous.

Cavuto hit back at the president Tuesday afternoon on Fox News saying there are several studies where the drug 'did no good and in some extreme cases killed’ people taking it.  

The war of words continued to ramp up Tuesday between the two over their opposing views on the drug that is typically used to treat malaria and lupus.

Tensions escalated after Trump blasted that Fox News 'is no longer the same' after the anchor issued a stark warning that hydroxychloroquine 'will kill you' in the wake of the president's revelation Monday that he has been taking the drug to prevent contracting coronavirus.

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Fox news host Neil Cavuto has renewed his attack on Donald Trump for recommending taking hydroxychloroquine by citing multiple studies that have shown it is potentially dangerous

Cavuto, 61, who is immunocompromised himself and suffers from MS, backed up his warning Tuesday afternoon by reeling off a number of studies where the treatment had been found to be ineffective and even deadly in preventing or treating COVID-19.

The Fox anchor addressed claims from Trump 'that I was not fairly characterising' his use of the drug and that 'a lot of his medical supporters said it was misinterpreted'. 

'What is not misinterpreted is that there have been at least four prominent studies on the issue of hydroxychloroquine for other issues beyond lupus and malaria for which it's more popularly used and for which there has not been any real noteworthy problems. The issue here is whether it is advisable to take to ward off COVID-19,' Cavuto argued. 

The anchor issued a grave warning that the drug could kill users, referencing a concerning study from Veterans Affairs (VA) where the drug was actually linked to an uptick in deaths among 'vulnerable' people with pre-existing health conditions.

'Those with a vulnerable condition such as respiratory or cardiac issues ultimately died,' he said.

'Statistically it was significant enough to show in that population of those taking it [that] it did no good and in some extreme cases killed them.'  

The anchor also pointed to a study of 1,300 people where no benefit was found in taking it in relation to the virus. 

'Another study by the New England Journal of Medicine and this one a Columbia University University task force that looked with the Early Medicine Center at some 1,300 patients taking hydroxychloroquine as a way to ward off COVID-19 60 percent of patients who received hydroxychloroquine for about five days did not show any lower rate or risk,' he said. 

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Cavuto hit back at the president Tuesday afternoon on Fox News saying there are several studies where the drug 'did no good and in some extreme cases killed’ people

'So the bottom line is if there is supposed to be a remedy there is no evidence of that.'

Cavuto also gave the example of advice issued only a month ago by the FDA.

'No less than the US Food and Drug Administration warned back on April 24 that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective in treating or preventing COVID-19,' he said. 

'The FDA itself is saying it's not available and out of a clinical trial basis it's risky to do that.'  

Cavuto added that there are at least five other studies out there showing similar concerns.  

He compiled the list of evidence showing the potential dangers of the drug following Trump's Twitter outburst Monday night.

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Tensions mounted between the host and the president after Trump blasted that Fox News 'is no longer the same' after Cavuto warned hydroxychloroquine 'will kill you' in the wake of the president's revelation he has been taking the drug to prevent contracting coronavirus

Trump tweeted: '@foxnews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet!' 

Ailes, former CEO Fox News, resigned in July 2016 amid charges of sexual harassment from dozens of women and died in May 2017.  

Trump followed up the Tweet with a barrage of retweets which took aim at Cavuto.

Cavuto has earlier urged people to be extremely careful taking the drug adding that it could kill those who have certain underlying health conditions and announced it was 'stunning' to hear Trump announce earlier on Monday he had been taking it for over a week.   

'That was stunning,' Cavuto said Monday. 

'The fact of the matter is though, when the president said 'what have you got to lose?', in a number of studies, those certain vulnerable population has one thing to lose: their lives. 

'If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus, or in a worse-case scenario you are dealing with the virus and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you.' 

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Trump, earlier on Monday, revealed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for over a week and then took to Twitter Monday night

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'I cannot stress enough. This will kill you. So, again, whatever benefits the president says this has, and certainly it has had for those suffering from malaria, dealing with lupus, this is a leap that should not be taken casually by those watching from home or assuming, well the president of the United States says it's OK,' he said.

'Even the FDA was very cautious about this unless in a clinical trial safely and deliberately watched. I only make this not to make a political point here, but a life-and-death point. Be very, very careful,' Cavuto urged. 

'A VA study showed that among a population in a hospital receiving this treatment, those with vulnerable conditions — respiratory conditions, heart ailments — they died,' Cavuto noted. 

Cavuto's remarks drew surprise given the Fox News network's long-running history of supporting the president and his administration.

Cavuto, a husband and father-of-three has multiple sclerosis and was diagnosed twenty-three years ago, at the age of 38.

Months after being diagnosed he underwent treatment for stage 4 cancer in the form of Hodgkin's Lymphoma which he managed to beat.

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Cavuto called Trump's revelation 'stunning' on Monday and urged people not to take the drug as a preventive treatment for coronavirus

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Hydroxychloroquine has potentially serious side effects, including to the heart

In 2016 he underwent a triple heart bypass operation, but the Fox anchor appears to be doing well.  

The president made his announcement that he was taking hydroxychloroquine at the White House during an event with restaurant workers on Monday.

'I'm taking it - hydroxychloroquine. Right now yeah. A couple of weeks ago, started taking it,' he said.  

'I would've told you that three to four days ago, but we never had a chance because you never asked me the question,' Trump continued. 

Trump, 73, said he took one dose of the z-pack antibiotic and is now taking a zinc supplement along with a daily hydroxychloroquine pill. He noted he's had no side effects.

'I'm taking the two - the zinc and the hydroxy,' he said. 'So far I seem to be okay.'

'I have been taking it for about a weekend for about a week and a half,' he noted. 'Every day. I take a pill every day.'

'At some point I'll stop,' he added.

The president shrugged off warnings about the side effects of hydroxy issued by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health. Both medical organizations note the drug is only approved for the use of patients in hospitals who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. 

'You're not going to get sick or die,' he said about taking the medication. 'I've taken it about for a week and a half now. And I'm still here.' 

'I've heard a lot of good stories. And if it is not good, I will tell you right. I'm not going to get hurt by it. It has been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus, for other things. I take it,' Trump said. 

The president repeatedly has touted hydroxychloroquine - used to treat malaria, lupus and other diseases - and the antibiotic azithromycin, often referred to as 'Z-pack,' to be used to treat the coronavirus. 

Many medical officials - including Dr. Tony Fauci, who sits on the White House Coronavirus Task Force - have urged a more cautious approach, noting the lack of reputable scientific studies on hydroxychloroquine. 

Hydroxychloroquine has potentially serious side effects, including altering the heartbeat in a way that could lead to sudden death, and the FDA has warned against its use for coronavirus infections except in formal studies.  

A study released last Monday showed hydroxychloroquine does not work against the coronavirus and could cause heart problems.

It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and follows an earlier study in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed the drug doesn't fight the virus.

Additionally, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health issued warnings about using the drugs for coronavirus patients.

'Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19. They are being studied in clinical trials for COVID-19, and we authorized their temporary use during the COVID-19 pandemic for treatment of the virus in hospitalized patients,' the FDA warning said.

'Although there is anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may benefit people with COVID-19, we need solid data from a large randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and head of the NIH, said last week.  

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Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, released a memo Monday night, saying he and Trump discussed the matter and believed the gain from using hydroxychloroquine outweighed its risk factors