A U.S. panel is advising against using a medicine typically used against diabetes to treat COVID-19, despite multiple studies finding the medicine can be effective against the new illness.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel on Dec. 1 announced it was recommending that patients not receive metformin, the antidiabetic drug, unless they’re in clinical trials.
While data from observational studies “have suggested that patients who were receiving metformin as treatment for diabetes at the time of their COVID-19 diagnosis had a lower risk of progressing to severe COVID-19,” the panel said, randomized controlled trials found no benefit for metformin in patients who are not in hospitals….