WHO Panel Advises Against Generic Antidepressant to Treat Covid

A generic antidepressant and a gout medicine that garnered some popularity as Covid-19 treatments shouldn’t be used for mild infection because there’s no evidence they help, according to a panel of experts advising the World Health Organization.

The drugs, fluvoxamine and colchicine, could potentially cause harm, the group of experts said in the BMJ medical journal Thursday. The panel didn’t give advice for severe illness, saying there was a lack of data.

The two medicines “are commonly used, inexpensive drugs that have received considerable interest as potential Covid-19 treatments during the pandemic,” the WHO said.

Fluvoxamine is used for ...