Disulfiram, an FDA-approved drug that has been in clinical use along with counselling support to treat alcoholism for more than 70 years, may protect against lung injury and the risk of blood clots in severe COVID-19. It could also help treat other disorders that cause immune-mediated damage to the lungs, according to a preclinical study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory. The research published in JCI Insight found that disulfiram protected rodents from immune-mediated lung injury in two separate models of this type of injury: infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and a lung failure syndrome called TRALI that in rare cases occurs after blood transfusion.