Florida’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, has criticized the Biden administration over the state’s monoclonal antibody COVID-19 therapy shortage.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week that the government was halting the distribution of Regeneron and Eli Lily’s authorized antibody therapies. Citing recent research suggesting the treatments are ineffective against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
- Sotrovimab, the only FDA-approved antibody-drug that has shown promise against the Omicron variant, was not affected by the delay.
- In September, Ladapo was appointed as Florida’s surgeon general.
- Ladapo isn’t the only state official who has slammed Biden’s government for running out of effective antibody therapy.
- “In September, Ladapo was appointed as Florida’s surgeon general.
- The next surgeon general has a track record of making divisive remarks on COVID-19, including pushing ineffectual therapies like hydroxychloroquine while disputing the efficacy and safety of established vaccines.
- In October, Ladapo received bipartisan flak for refusing to wear a mask at a meeting with a Democratic state legislator who had recently developed cancer.
- Ladapo isn’t the only state official who has slammed Biden’s government for running out of effective antibody therapy.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed additional data this week, revealing that the Omicron variant was responsible for about 60% of new cases in the United States last week, lower than the initial estimate of over 70%.
Sotrovimab, the only FDA-approved antibody-drug that has shown promise against the variation, was not affected by the delay. The authorities began withholding certain supplies of sotrovimab in anticipation of a significant increase in Omicron variant before announcing the suspension, according to The Washington Post, while temporarily expanding the availability of the other drugs.
In a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday, Ladapo stated that the state is facing an “urgent and life-threatening shortage of treatment alternatives” as the Omicron variant spreads due to a federal “lack of allocation” of sotrovimab.
Ladapo requested that Becerra grant Florida unrestricted access to any COVID-19 therapy, including sotrovimab:
Although it is in poor availability throughout the country, Ladapo also stated that delaying the other therapies was an example of “shortsightedness,” claiming that the Omicron variation is not responsible for all cases COVID-19.
Ladapo wrote to Becerra, “The federal agencies under your authority should not prohibit our state’s access to any effective therapy for Omicron variant.” “By delivering medications to clinicians operating in areas with a low frequency of Omicron or clinics capable of variant screening, Florida can extend treatment choices for patients.”
The federal government is working hard to prevent monoclonal antibody treatment from becoming used in the United States:
“The abrupt suspension of several monoclonal antibody therapy therapies from distribution in Florida deprives health care providers of the finest therapeutic choices for their patients in this state.”
In September, Ladapo was appointed as Florida’s surgeon general. Dr. Scott Rivkees, the former surgeon general, had resigned after almost a year of virtual silence after appearing to contradict Republican Governor Ron DeSantis during a news conference during the early days of the outbreak.
The next surgeon general has a track record of making divisive remarks on the Omicron variant, including pushing ineffectual therapies like hydroxychloroquine while disputing the efficacy and safety of established vaccines. Ladapo drew bipartisan ire in October when he refused to wear a mask at a meeting with a Democratic state legislator who had recently been diagnosed with cancer.
Ladapo isn’t the only state official who has slammed Biden’s government for running out of effective antibody therapy. On Monday, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott accused President Joe Biden of “hoarding” sotrovimab after numerous infusion clinics ran out of the drug, stating that Biden had “stopped sending any of that medicine to Texas.”
When to seek monoclonal antibody therapy, according to a local health expert:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed additional data this week, revealing that the omicron variety was responsible for about 60% of new Omicron variant cases in the United States last week, lower than the initial estimate of over 70%. Delta made up the rest.
The CDC reduced the percentage of illnesses attributable to omicron from 73 percent to 23 percent for the week ending Dec. 18. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, explained why the figures changed so much.
“We use genetic surveillance data and predictive modeling to analyze and estimate the frequency of Omicron variant.” Those prediction projections can be less stable early in Omicron variant when we have breakneck speed, and that’s what happened in this period,” Walensky said.
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