Posted on 04/04/2020 7:02:45 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The head of the Food and Drug Administration said he is hopeful about finding a treatment for coronavirus after federal health officials approved two treatments for emergency use.
Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, spoke Saturday during the White House coronavirus task force press briefing.
He highlighted a program that uses convalescent plasma as a way to treat COVID-19 patients.
The program collects blood plasma from people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus and transfers the immunoglobulins - antibodies produced by white blood cells and offer immunity - to help patients recover more rapidly.
Use of convalescent plasma has been studied in outbreaks of other respiratory infections, including the 2009-2010 swine flu outbreak and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
“Although promising, convalescent plasma has not yet been shown to be effective in COVID-19,” the FDA said in a statement announcing the approval of convalescent plasma for emergency use. “It is therefore important to determine through clinical trials, before routinely administering convalescent plasma to patients with COVID-19, that it is safe and effective to do so.”
Hahn said there is a “great deal of enthusiasm” for the program, which has shown promise in other countries.
The treatment has been approved for a handful of critically ill COVID-19 patients in the United States.
Last week, the FDA approved the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19.
Hahn emphasized that the drug was to be used only after being prescribed by a doctor.
The antimalarial drug is regularly prescribed for patients with autoimmune diseases, including lupus, and to prevent malaria.
Laboratory studies have shown that the drug blocked the coronavirus from entering cells, however health officials stress that the drug should only be prescribed by a doctor and is being studied in clinical trials.
(Excerpt) Read more at masslive.com ...
It's only so much longer that they can keep saying 'no conclusive proof.'
so it is important to have herd immunity....somebody has to donate blood....
RE: There has yet to be a single study that refutes the notion that it’s very effective
Why then do we keep seeing the words “unproven” and “no evidence” tagged in front of the word Hydroxychloroquine in many media headlines?
There is something underhanded going on with these people. Withholding a possible preventative measure based on the flimsy excuse that more study needs to be done is not right.
I will bet that these people have access to any drugs they want. Only if they get the disease and have no treatment will their excuse be put to the test.
No one is withholding anything. Doctors can prescribe this treatment today.
Now, if you want the FDA to say it's safe and effective, which implies some scientific rigor, then you're going to have to wait.
There's a TON of evidence, but none of it yet measures up to the types of clinical trials that take forever.
Therefore the best they can do is say 'unproven' etc. which is a weasel truth ... i.e. a lie but technically true because what they don't tell the average schmuck out there who doesn't have time to read up is that 'unproven' only means 'haven't done a 345 year clinical trial showing 109% effectiveness and adds 20 years to your life."
I'm not sure why the media can't even say 'promising' -> the only LEGIT reason I can see is they don't want a run on it before the drug companies have had a chance to make a ton of it.
Out of curiosity I pushed a teledoc to prescribe it to me (I knew I wasn't going to get it - I'm not sick so don't have the will to really fight for it) -> and I DID challenge her (politely) with the the fact that doc's across the world are prescribing it to themselves and families. Once she knew I knew what I was talking about, she backed off a bit and said 'we've basically been told we are not to prescribe it and certainly not without proof of covid'.
Although I was pressing -> it was a polite exchange and I wished her the best. I WAS pressing because I was trying to get past the non-transparency and see what she really knew, but I wasn't there to accuse her of being full of shiite. I think they are walking a delicate line on this and I had no desire to make her life miserable.
But I don't think Trump would continue going out on a limb if he don't know pretty damn well that it's likely to be the drug, maybe in combination with azrythromicine and zinc sulphate, that in the end becomes the (or one of the) treatment(s) soon ... as soon as people are diagnosed.
Not a doc though, and everything above is my best read of the situation.
RE: I pushed a teledoc to prescribe it to me
Why did yo need to see a teledoc for if you don’t have Covid-19?
(you don't 'see' them, you connect with them on the web through a service)
I wrote that I wanted it as a prophylaxis. I did not expect to get it at all -> I was more interested in the response I'd get. PLUS I'd never used a teledoc because I have a regular doc I love.
This was just an experiment in 'where are the docs ACTUALLY at with hydrochloroquine and the general public.'
Sometimes to learn something you have to actually try something. What I took from my interaction was that they also believe its effective. But I can't call that evidence of anything. I can tell you that when I challenged her with 'docs around the world are prescribing it for themselves and family' she did not push back on that fact. She only said 'we've been told not to.' ... she certainly didn't add 'because it's ineffective' or anything ...
So i can't guarantee anything ... I'm just a guy trying to fit together the truth from the various inputs. My guess is it's effective and maybe very effective.
Seems to me a sunami of a cure is coming...
Part of its therapeutic effectiveness may be due to its antiinflammatory effect...and its ability to suoress covid 19 relication a bit. Add azithro.and that would cover the secondary bacterial infection. One might need both azithro and hcq to alleviate the severe respiratory effect of covid 19. I hope that more data comes out on its effectiveness or ineffectiveness...like soon.
Suoress = suppress
He said the patients remind him more of ... if you dropped a guy from a helicopter onto the peak of Everest without an oxygen tank (for get about the OTHER stuff that would go wrong at that altitude.) The lung strength would be fine -> wouldn't need anyone to move the lungs, but the lungs would be screwed because can't get oxygen.
That's kind of a side commentary, just thinking out loud.
What goes on here, is simple criminal negligence by the people who have been spending 100’s of billions of dollars for “Homeland Security” and we find ourselves critically short of masks, and ventilators. This calamity was not unforseen. There needs to be an investigation spanning back to the time of when the stockpile was devastated after the swine flu, and moving forward. Whomever was responsible for this complete fiasco, needs to be thrown in prison.
My doctor who would readly give me a script said it would not be filled in Ohio. The pharmacy board a week ago has prevented pharmacies in ohio from filling the script.
Thanks, seekandfind, for posting!
I hope we get enough of this made & received so that it can be more widely available.
Game changer!
Dr. Vladimir Zelenko has now treated 699 coronavirus patients with 100% success using Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate, Zinc and Z-Pak
True, there are places preserving the drug for patients who need it but that’s because of worries about supply, not the FDA.
Supposedly it’s still available for treatment of Covid.
They haven’t mentioned what the cost of the plasma treatment is. Curious.
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