“....Favipiravir (T-705) is the best treatment option available. However,it is not FDA approved,so getting it in the USA isn’t easy. ....”
What side effects does favipiravir have, as compared to the ‘next-best’ one that is approved?
Its OK in Europe, so presumably the effects aren’t worse than that ‘next- best’ one.
Why won’t the FDA approve things that work?
That ‘next-best’ one:
“.... Lamivudine is probably the next best choice,and it is FDA approved (for HIV and Hepititis B) and off-patent so it is both widely available and fairly cheap. ....”
Favipiravir is currently undergoing Phase-3 clinical trials in the USA as a flu treatment - http://www.favorflustudy.com/
The chemical doesn’t appear to affect mammalian cells that much, but it does appear to have caused some gastrointestinal side-effects in a small number of cases, from what I’ve heard.
The drug was developed in 1998, and is owned by Fujifilm, which holds the patent on it for another few years. Japan has a large stockpile of Favipiravir, ostensibly for flu epidemics.