Posted on 02/16/2021 8:11:37 PM PST by SeekAndFind
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It was a promising COVID-19 treatment last year that is now sitting in stockpiles across the country. Hydroxychloroquine did not turn out to be the miracle drug once touted by the former president and sought out by Florida's governor.
Instead, it has become a commodity for which the state has little use.
Last April, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he had secured a million doses of hydroxychloroquine from Israel at no cost to the state.
The Republican and close ally of, at that time, President Donald Trump hosted a roundtable with doctors who supported the use of the drug. The discussion came despite very little and often anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine was beneficial in the fight against COVID-19.
"I've reached out to physicians and just asked, 'Hey, what’s the deal with this? Should we get more of it?'" DeSantis told journalists at the meeting. "We want to, obviously, give patients the opportunity to have a recovery."
The promotion by governors like DeSantis and the former president quickly created a run on the treatment, frustrating Florida rheumatologists.
"It was a real problem," said Dr. Norman Gaylis, a Florida physician with the American College of Rheumatology. "We don't have enough time in the day to answer how much it frustrates me with the way this has been handled."
Gaylis said April and May were difficult times for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients who need the pills to fight disability and pain. Those he treats were unable to fill prescriptions, forced to ration what they had and find sources from outside the country.
Meanwhile, states had little use for their stockpiles as research piled up suggested the drug did little to treat COVID-19 and raised safety questions.
"My guess is the majority hydroxychloroquine sitting in states' storage facilities are basically going to end up being thrown away," Gaylis said.
Some states indeed continue to sit on large supplies of the medicine, which has a two-year shelf life. Oregon has yet to use any of its 50,000 tablets. Texas has about 92% of its million doses remaining. Both are working to find a use. Oklahoma officials are trying to return about $2 million of the pills to their supplier.
In Florida, about 980,000 doses were on hand as of June. Officials haven't been able to provide an updated total but said they're working to distribute them.
State emergency management has partnered with the Lupus Foundation of America. Together they're donating supplies to doctors, avoiding a prolonged dose shortage here.
Dr. Michael Bubb, a principal investigator in the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network of Lupus Therapeutics, said Florida's market has stabilized after the summer panic.
"I haven't had a patient express concerns in recent months about the availability of the drug," Bubb said.
Going forward, however, the University of Florida rheumatologist hopes the state will better consult experts before putting any future strain on the market.
"It's ideal to have the physician experts consulted on these issues," Bubb said. "The real issue is that medical knowledge is not easy. Looking at data, particularly observational data, rather than randomized controlled data, really needs to have a nuanced eye."
The Food and Drug Administration still approves the use of hydroxychloroquine for lupus, malaria and rheumatoid arthritis. The agency pulled the drug's emergency use authorization for COVID-19 last June due to a risk of heart problems. It continues to discourage use for virus treatment outside of hospitals.
Like many states, Florida is trying to get rid of its hydroxychloroquine. Here are some things to remember:
* Florida secured about a million doses last year through donation.
* Few were used as research suggested the pills did little to treat COVID
* In June, Florida had about 980,000 pills left
* It’s now working with the Lupus Foundation of America to donate the remaining supply.
This is the heightened degree of insanity we are living in. As far as I know, there are still restrictions on off-label prescribing for Covid-19, yet these clowns are sitting on stockpiles that could save lives. One minute they claim they don’t have enough HCQ for lupus and rheumatoid suffers and now they have too much. Why not make their aging stockpiles available to those who want it as a prophylactic treatment for Covid-19. Then the Country can get back to normal. No, unfortunately that would be too sane an idea. You have got to keep the public in a high state of insanity.
the last phrase gives the answer to the headline...
“it’s now working with the lupus foundation to donate the remaining supply”...
I wonder, does the author Forrest Saunders bother to research his subject?
How does receiving a million doses, free, from Israel equate to regular users not being able to get what they need?
Thanks FreedomPoster looking into it now.
Thank you! You had some stuff I didn’t have.
Excellent site!
Excellent site indeed.
CON’s
The biggest problem is there is no identified person/group for the site. So we cannot check for bias.
PRO’s
All of the study’s are sourced.
- So the accuracy of the summary can be compared to the original documents. For the studies I looked at, their summaries are reliable.
- All of the original reports can be read.
I found this site one day while trying to rebut an idiot sheep spouting the media’s talking points.
Google et. al. were deliberately hiding the prior studies that I was trying to find.
So finding this site was like striking a gold mine.
Thanks for the info. That makes the issue much more clear.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.