Balancing speed and safety as the rush to find effective and prolonged treatments for COVID-19 continue

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted life around the world. As of early December 2020, more than 69 million people have tested positive for the virus, and more than 1.6 million people have died from the disease. Researchers are now rushing to find effective means of treating and preventing this disease. The urgency of this problem requires speed, but this must be balanced with caution to avoid possible negative impacts of deploying treatments that have been insufficiently tested for effectiveness and safety. For my thesis, I consider challenges of the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to balance the urgency of finding quick treatment with the long-term safety of the treatments they approve. I first examine three historical examples where past treatments have been prematurely approved and discuss the lessons that were learned from these mistakes. Finally, I examine two examples from the current COVID-19 pandemic: the emergency use authorization to use hydroxychloroquine to treat severe COVID-19 patients and the new vaccines developed to prevent COVID-19 infection. It is pertinent to ensure that the benefits of any treatment outweigh the risks for the long-term benefit of society, which is of critical importance today as we face the current COVID-19 pandemic.