(Radio Iowa) — With no known cure for coronavirus, some doctors in Iowa are prescribing the drug hydroxychloroquine (hy-DROX-ee-CLOAR-ah-quin) for certain patients. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday he’s been taking the drug as a preventative measure after multiple members of the White House staff tested positive for the virus.

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved hydroxychloroquine to treat or prevent coronavirus, but it has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for it, which allows medical providers to use a product in an emergency, like a pandemic. In an interview with KCRG-TV, Dr. Dustin Arnold, the chief medical officer at UnityPoint–St. Luke’s in Cedar Rapids, says he doesn’t recommend people take the drug as a preventative measure.

The F-D-A warned in April that hydroxychloroquine can cause heart problems and its use for COVID-19 should be limited to clinical trial settings or for treating certain hospitalized patients. St. Luke’s in Cedar Rapids has been doing that for some of its moderate to severely ill patients, according to Arnold.

At this point, he says it’s hard to tell what effect hydroxychloroquine has had on coronavirus patients.

Hydroxychloroquine, which is only available with a prescription, is also more commonly used to treat people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. In late March, the FDA said there was a shortage of the drug, with some manufacturers reporting they have a limited supply because of increased demand. Arnold says St. Luke’s prepared for that before starting the treatment for coronavirus patients.