Alabama
Related: About this forumAlabama providers no longer directly ordering monoclonal antibody treatment
The demand for monoclonal antibody treatments amid growing COVID-19 cases and the more contagious delta variant prompted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to stop allowing state medical providers to order the life-saving drug directly, and instead to require the Alabama Department of Public Health to divvy up the states supply among providers.
During this transition, our highest priority will be to ensure that the ordering process for monoclonal antibodies is in place, so Alabama healthcare providers can be sent needed products as soon as possible, State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said in a statement Wednesday.
The change went into effect Monday, according to a press release from ADPH, noting that the increase in COVID cases has caused a substantial surge in the use of monoclonal antibody products.
Monoclonal antibody treatment, manufactured by the company Regeneron, can cut the need to hospitalize a COVID patient by 70 percent, if given within 10 days of infection, according to medical experts. ADPH notes, however, that the drug is not a replacement for COVID vaccines, which have been found to be safe and effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death.
Read more: https://www.alreporter.com/2021/09/15/alabama-providers-no-longer-directly-ordering-monoclonal-antibody-treatment-due-to-surge-in-use/
(Alabama Political Reporter)
NCjack
(10,297 posts)marble falls
(62,403 posts)keithbvadu2
(40,327 posts)Spread the word that Regeneron was developed/tested with fetal stem cells.
dutch777
(3,504 posts)There is a local radio talk show host (Seattle) who yesterday was going on about "yeah, more people are getting Covid, but less of them as a % are dying of it than last year-- why worry?". Death is certainly a key marker of fighting a disease but what seems to be getting ignored is the cost of treatment. I was a hospital administrator before retiring a few years ago and the average cost of care for someone in an ICU bed was then $30k. Hard to say what insurance covers and doesn't but I have to think a two week stay in any ICU starting with an ER visit is going to leave even a decently insured person with a bunch of co-pays and deductibles they may be ill prepared to cover. And that is not including loss of income, long term employment and health affects. There is the loss of the person to the job market where there is a worker shortage. There is the terrible psychological cost to the health care providers that have to live this nightmare up close, day after day. The list goes on and on.