Couple Attempted To Self-Medicate With Fish Tank Cleaner To Fight COVID-19 — Man Died And Wife Is In Critical Condition

I’m not always proud to be an Arizona native… and this story certainly doesn’t help change my mind.

This almost mirrors some Romeo and Juliet sh*t.

An Arizona couple attempted to self-medicate when they confused a common fish aquarium cleaner for being as effective as the malaria drug that has been publicized.

They ingested this chemical compound, chloroquine phosphate, not realizing that the chemical is not intended for human ingestion, and the malaria drug that contains hydroxychloroquine functions differently in its projection to help coronavirus infections.

Unfortunately, the man has passed away and his wife is currently in critical condition, both being in their 60s.

The Daily Mail reported:

Banner Health, a non-profit hospital system based in Arizona, issued a statement urging the public against the use of inappropriate medications and household products to prevent or treat COVID-19 on Monday.

To emphasize the importance of the warning, officials disclosed a few details of what happened with an unnamed couple that ignored the advice and took their medical care into their own hands.

Banner Health experts emphasized that people should not take chloroquine under any circumstances unless it’s prescribed by a doctor.

‘Given the uncertainty around COVID-19, we understand that people are trying to find new ways to prevent or treat this virus, but self-medicating is not the way to do so,’ said Dr Daniel Brooks, Banner Poison and Drug Information Center medical director.

‘The last thing that we want right now is to inundate our emergency departments with patients who believe they found a vague and risky solution that could potentially jeopardize their health.’

For the love of all that is holy, don’t use non-medicine for medicinal purposes.

I’m sad for the couple in regards to their efforts to save one another, but sheesh, don’t go around acting like you’re drug experts and drinking poison all willy-nilly because ‘this looks like it could be close enough.’