Hydroxychloroquine has suddenly become the most talked-about drug in America. President Donald Trump, and various allies have been talking up the efficacy of the treatment for the coronavirus pandemic, although its efficacy in that manner is somewhat controversial. The drug has been okayed by the FDA for emergency use for some patients who are hospitalized with coronavirus. But this has led to new fears of shortages of the drug for patients who have had it prescribed for more traditional uses, such as treating lupus, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions.

In addition to those concerns, Hydroxychloroquine also has a long list of possible side effects. President Trump said in a briefing this week, per NBC News, that "the side effects are the least of it" and that "you’re not gonna die from this pill."

“There are side effects to hydroxychloroquine. It causes psychiatric symptoms, cardiac problems & a host of other bad side effects," Dr. Megan L. Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University, told the New York Times this week. "People certainly have something to lose by taking it indiscriminately” Ranney added that while the drug could be effective, added that she had never seen an elected official talk up a specific drug in the way Trump has with Hydroxychloroquine.

Dr. Michael Ackerman, director of the  Mayo Clinic's Windland Smith Rice Genetic Heart Rhythm Clinic, issued guidance at the end of March stating that several antimalarial drugs being used in coronavirus treatment, including hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine and HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, "all carry a known or possible risk of drug-induced ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death."

Ackerman told NBC News that it's irresponsible for politicians and even doctors and disease specialists to go on television and talk up the drug without even mentioning the side effects, which are rare, but severe.

A hospital in Nice, France, on Wednesday announced that it had stopped an experimental treatment for coronavirus using hydroxychloroquine on some patients due to a "major risk" to cardiac health.

Multiple Swedish hospitals, meanwhile, stopped a treatment involving chloroquine due to such side effects as cramps, loss of peripheral vision and heart-related issues.

Meanwhile, a study published earlier this week by BioRxiv showed that in mice, there was a severe risk of death when chloroquine (CQ) or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was taken in combination with the anti-diabetic drug metformin.

Colton Underwood, a former star of the reality show The Bachelor who announced recently that he had tested positive for coronavirus, said in a recent interview that he had taken hydroxychloroquine. And while he is feeling better, he suffered "gnarly side effects to the medication."

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons.