Objective:

This paper aims to detect and report suicide cases or suicide attempts and hallucinations during the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Methods:

It was a retrospective descriptive study in which patients treated with hydroxychloroquine 40 days before the event were included: completed suicide, acute psychosis with suicide attempt and psychotic behavior and aggressiveness with harm to third parties. Patients with a previous situation of depression, attempted or organized suicide plan, alcohol abuse and lack of rational thought or social support were excluded. To establishthe degree of association between suspected adverse drug reaction and hydroxychloroquine, the modified version of the algorithm proposed by Karch and Lasagna was used.

Results:

There were five case reports neuropsychiatric adverse events associated with the use of hydroxychloroquine: completed suicide (three); acute psychosis crisis with suicide attempt (one) and psychotic behavior and aggressive- ness with harm to third parties (one), which recovered after withdrawal of hydroxychloroquine. All of them were male, with age ranged between 26-85 years. Psychiatric-type adverse reactions appeared between 2-5 days after initiating therapy. None had a prior psychiatric history, and all were calm, cooperative, and without depressive symptoms during hospitalization.

Conclusion:

Evidence in other pathologies suggests a potential increase in symptoms such as anxiety, suicidal ideation and hallucinations that can cause aggression or suicide with exposure to hydroxychloroquine, so others studies are needed in this current situation of pandemic by COVID-19 and unapproved use of hydroxychloroquine.

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