Florida coronavirus patient has warning about anti-malaria drug touted by Trump

The Florida man who claims his severe coronavirus case was cured overnight by an anti-malaria drug touted by President Trump says he’s feeling good a week later — but has warned others not to try the “dangerous” drug at home.

Rio Giardinieri, 52, said he returned to his Miami Shores home Tuesday night and is recovering well after being prescribed hydroxychloroquine, according to Yahoo News.

“Man, I’m alive and kickin’,” Giardinieri told the outlet. “Feeling good.”

But he warned people not to take the “game-changing” drug without a doctor’s consent.

“The one thing that scares me to death is people taking these stories and going out and self-diagnosing and self-medicating,” said Giardinieri. “They can’t do that. They’ve got to go to a doctor.”

He said he has received messages on social media from people asking him how to take hydroxychloroquine.

“I’m like, ‘No no. You got this wrong. It’s a dangerous drug. Don’t take this unless it’s being prescribed and you get your dosage based on your weight and your size and how your body reacts,’” he said.

His warning comes after an Arizona man died from ingesting an additive used to clean fish tanks — the pharmaceutical drug version of which was touted by Trump as a potential coronavirus cure.

Last week, doctors at the Memorial Regional Hospital in South Florida diagnosed Giardinieri with the coronavirus and put him on oxygen in the ICU.

Doctors told him there was nothing more they could do after a week and Giardinieri said goodbye to his wife and three children. But he reportedly made a full recovery after taking the prescription drug, which has been used to treat auto-immune diseases like lupus.

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