Why is DeSantis pushing an ineffective omicron treatment? He just doesn’t care about us | Editorial https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article257716293.html We get it. It’s hard to back down when you’ve staked your credibility on a treatment for COVID that is no longer effective against the latest variant. And when you’re the governor of Florida and you’ve made that treatment, rather than vaccines, a cornerstone of your COVID-defiant attitude, how do you admit that omicron has outmaneuvered you? Apparently, if you’re Ron DeSantis, you don’t. Instead, you call the decision by the Food and Drug Administration to revoke emergency authorization for monoclonal antibody treatment “sudden and reckless.” You get into a fight with the White House and have your health department issue a petulant-sounding press release. “Unfortunately,” the release issued Monday said, “as a result of this abrupt decision made by the federal government, all monoclonal antibody state sites will be closed until further notice.” Lest you miss it, that section is printed in bold and large type. Anything to distract from the fact that even the drug companies manufacturing the treatments agree that they aren’t effective on the omicron COVID variant. That’s not even a new development: Both Eli Lilly and Regeneron sounded the alarm on omicron late last year. The FDA said this week that it is “highly unlikely” that either treatment would help with omicron. And even though DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw told the Editorial Board that the FDA’s move amounts to “a blanket denial of treatment that we know is effective for other variants,” Omicron accounts for almost 99% of cases in Florida and nationwide. Politics over leadership It takes a strong, confident leader to admit when he’s wrong. That’s the opposite of what we’ve been seeing in DeSantis over the past few days. Instead, we’re witnessing a governor lashing out to make political points rather than acknowledging that, sadly, the treatment that worked on the Delta variant isn’t effective on omicron. He could have seized the moment and come out looking smart and reasonable. Where is the discussion about the other treatments that do work? The state is set to get antiviral pills developed by Merck and Pfizer, plus AstraZeneca’s Evusheld treatment and another monoclonal antibody manufactured by Sotrovimab. There’s also the antiviral drug remdesivir. The newer treatments are expected to be in short supply. If the governor wants to rail about something, why not that? Those are treatments instead of the vaccines that he now seems so loathe to mention. But fear and anger sell. They motivate a base primed by ex-President Trump to vote with its gut. DeSantis knows that a fight with the federal government is an easy way for him to define himself for reelection and maybe the presidency. He even sent out a fundraising letter Wednesday saying President Biden was denying Floridians “access to lifesaving treatment.” Never mind that the governor’s clinging to treatments that are now ineffective in the face of fast-moving omicron. Pushing the old delta monoclonals isn’t just wrong, though. It’s expensive — around $2,100 a dose, usually paid for with federal tax dollars. It could also be harmful. There are possible side effects including shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting with this experimental treatment. Yes, experimental, something DeSantis has either forgotten or ignored. Then again, logic hasn’t been a strong suit lately among those who won’t accept vaccines administered to more than 10 billion people worldwide — and yet have no trouble embracing monoclonal treatment. Make no mistake: By continuing to push for treatments that aren’t effective against omicron, DeSantis is once again choosing his own political future over what’s best for his state. Like a boardwalk pitchman in full cry, he’s irresponsibly selling false hope to COVID-worn Floridians. It has to stop — but we know it won’t.
Florida physicians call on Gov. Ron DeSantis, Ladapo to drop politics from public health https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/s...joseph-ladapo-focus-public-health/9227948002/
Republicans like Ron DeSantis keep kowtowing to the MAGA cult — even if it threatens lives https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...wtowing-maga-cult-even-if-it-threatens-lives/
Let's take a look at the text messages that DeSantis' contractor sent out to cancel monoclonal antibody treatment appointments. The messages are obviously biased and political in nature -- and totally inappropriate to be sending for appointment cancellations. DeSantis vs. Biden in Fla. contractor’s text messages canceling monoclonal treatments https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article257708358.html When a state contractor sent text messages to Miami-Dade residents canceling their appointments for monoclonal COVID-19 treatments this week, the announcements noted “the Biden administration has removed the ability of any state” to administer the drugs. On Tuesday, Miami-Dade’s mayor called the message “deeply disturbing” for not explaining the scientific reason behind the decision at a time when Gov. Ron DeSantis is linking the FDA action to “the whims of a floundering president.” In a letter to CDR Maguire President Carlos Duart, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said of the recent text messages canceling local monoclonal appointments: “The messages our residents received from your team are deeply concerning since they seem motivated by political interests and not acting in our community’s best interests.” The letter expands the conflict over the FDA’s recent decision to halt monoclonal treatments, based on the antibodies not being effective for the omicron variant that now makes up almost all cases of COVID-19 across the country. Levine Cava, a Democrat, has criticized DeSantis for not aggressively encouraging Florida residents to get vaccinated in recent months while centering his attention on COVID treatments for people who contract the virus. CDR Maguire operates state monoclonal sites at Miami Dade College North and Tropical Park, locations that also have county vaccination and testing operations. Levine Cava’s office said it received a notice from the firm that it was canceling treatment appointments this week, and that the notice included the text message being sent to Miami-Dade residents who had signed up for the slots. ‘PLEASE CONTACT THE FDA’ That message read, according to the mayor’s office: “The Biden Administration has removed the ability for any state to administer Regeneron’s REGEN-COV or Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab and etesevimab. “As a result, your appointment has been cancelled. If you want to know why this decision was made, please contact the U.S. FDA at 1-888-463-6332 or contact your health care provider for more information on COVID-19 treatment options.” The pharmaceutical companies behind the treatments, Regeneron and Eli Lilly, have also stated the drugs aren’t effective against the omicron variant but could be useful for future variations of the virus. The companies have agreements with the Biden administration to sell the drugs to the federal government, which has shipped them across the country for states to distribute to people seeking treatment. DESANTIS VERSUS BIDEN ON MONOCLONAL DECISION DeSantis, a leading but undeclared candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, accused the Biden administration of offering no justification for the decision to halt the treatments. In a statement Tuesday, he called the decision “indefensible” and a result of “medical authoritarianism.” “Americans’ access to treatments is now subject to the whims of a failing president,” DeSantis said. Duart, who was appointed to the Florida International University Board of Trustees by DeSantis in October, was not immediately available for comment after the release of the Levine Cava letter. Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for the state Department of Health, said of the CDR Maguire texts: “There is nothing untrue in the notification.” In the letter, Levine Cava noted 99% of the COVID-19 cases in Miami-Dade have been from the omicron variant and that it would be doing residents “disservice by continuing to provide a treatment that might not be effective for the COVID strain they likely have.”
Just DeSantis lying his ass off -- claiming the Feds have shipped Florida no treatments for Covid. The Feds have already shipped thousands of units of sotrovimab plus other drugs to Florida this week. Feds: Florida received effective COVID treatments against omicron https://www.local10.com/news/local/...d-effective-covid-treatments-against-omicron/ As Florida closed the sites that were distributing COVID-19 antibody drugs that were not effective against omicron, federal officials rushed to distribute treatments to states that were more efficient, officials said. Data showed Regeneron and Eli Lilly infusions were not effective against omicron, so the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked its authorization for both drugs. “We can confirm that the REGEN-COV antibodies do not work against the Omicron variant,” a representative for Regeneron said in a statement. “Lilly and the FDA agree that it is not medically appropriate, at this time, to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 with bamlanivimab and etesevimab together in the U.S. evaluation of both pseudovirus and authentic virus confirm that they are not effective at treating the currently predominant Omicron variant,” Eli Lilly said in a statement Wednesday. According to The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, just this week the agency is providing Florida with 34,000 doses of treatments that do work against omicron. “There are several other therapies – Paxlovid, sotrovimab, Veklury (remdesivir), and molnupiravir – that are expected to work against the omicron variant,” Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research director, said in a statement on Monday. Walgreens also confirmed this week that COVID-19 oral antiviral medications are available at some locations for “eligible patients with a valid prescription from a prescribing healthcare provider, including telehealth providers.” The medications “must be started within 5 days of symptom onset,” a statement from the company read. “Walgreens has shared with primary care providers participating store locations.” Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to fight President Joe Biden’s administration to allow the distribution of Regeneron and Eli Lilly antibody drugs. During a news conference, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said DeSantis is advocating for treatments that don’t work. Below is the full statement sent Wednesday by Eli Lilly: “Lilly continually monitors the COVID-19 environment and is committed to ensuring our antibodies are available, as appropriate, to patients as variants continue to evolve and their patterns of transmission and prevalence shift. “The FDA has updated the Fact Sheet for bamlanivimab and etesevimab to include a new Limitation for Authorized Use: due to the high frequency of the Omicron variant, these therapies are not currently authorized in any U.S. region. “Lilly and the FDA agree that it is not medically appropriate, at this time, to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 with bamlanivimab and etesevimab together in the U.S. Evaluation of both pseudovirus and authentic virus confirm that they are not effective at treating the currently predominant Omicron variant. Authorization status will change as needed, depending on prevalence and trends of variants of concern. “Authentic virus analysis of Lilly’s third investigational antibody therapy, bebtelovimab, confirm our earlier pseudovirus findings, which demonstrate our investigational antibody potently inactivates all known variants of concern, including Omicron. We are working urgently with the FDA to potentially bring bebtelovimab to patients through emergency use authorization. FDA review of the bebtelovimab submission is ongoing.”
So basically a mere 0.04% of Florida's Covid cases are not Omicron according to the medical community in the state. This -- of course - means that monoclonal antibody treatments which don't treat Omicron are next to worthless in the state. Somebody explain the facts to DeSantis. Florida doctor says antibody treatments ineffective against omicron Doctor says monoclonal antibody treatment Regeneron likely only prevented 1 hospitalization for every 2,500 patients who received it https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...ibody-treatments-ineffective-against-omicron/ AdventHealth in Orlando continues to offer a preventative monoclonal antibody treatment for people who’ve been exposed and have not tested positive for the coronavirus. The treatment is aimed to help high-risk individuals reduce their chance of contracting the virus. Most monoclonal antibody treatments have been banned in the United States. Dr. Kartik Cherabuddi is an associate professor and Epidemiologist for UF Health. Cherabuddi said the treatments were not effective on people with the Omicron variant. “The honest truth, it’s being removed because it doesn’t work,” Cherabuddi said. Cherabuddi said the monoclonal antibody treatment Regeneron likely only prevented one hospitalization for every 2,500 patients who received it. “Even for folks who may have gotten it maybe yesterday, it probably didn’t do much at all,” Cherabuddi said. The Florida Department of Health is offering a map on its website, showing where people can receive an oral antiviral pill for COVID-19. Cherabuddi said those pills are in short supply, so people unvaccinated and high risk are put to the top of the list to receive them. “I’m telling you the options are very few right now. We might have more options in the next week to two weeks, but right now just the strain of trying to see what to take and where to get it from, is just too hard,” Cherabuddi said. FDOH’s map shows only a couple of locations in Central Florida offering oral antiviral treatment. One site is in Daytona Beach Shores and the other site is inWinter Haven. Cherabuddi said anyone who is not vaccinated or has yet to receive a booster, should consider the vaccine as their best option. “They are much more effective in preventing severe disease. It’s like an insurance policy. Rather than try to fix things once things go wrong,” Cherabuddi said. Cherabuddi said it’s possible Regeneron and other monoclonal antibody treatments become available if they are proved effective against variants that may develop in the future.
they'll just expire in a warehouse somewhere. It's not like there's any consequences to his corruption & negligence. DeJester gonna Jester