Read on Twitter
NEW: $40-million worth of potentially life-saving treatment that could keep COVID-19 patients out of hospitals is sitting unused in Canada despite being approved by this country’s medical regulators.
Doctors don’t understand why. http://torstar.co/uJUi50EwRXQ
Doctors don’t understand why. http://torstar.co/uJUi50EwRXQ
The drug bamlanivimab is similar to the cocktail given to former U.S. president Donald Trump when he was diagnosed with COVID-19 last fall.
Some doctors and members of the federal Liberal caucus are pushing to have the drug made available here. http://torstar.co/uJUi50EwRXQ
Some doctors and members of the federal Liberal caucus are pushing to have the drug made available here. http://torstar.co/uJUi50EwRXQ
But others warn that it hasn’t been properly analyzed, especially when it comes to variants, and they worry about bringing COVID-19 patients into hospitals to receive it, putting health workers at further risk http://torstar.co/uJUi50EwRXQ
Canadian regulators first approved bamlanivimab back in November. Four days after authorization, the Trudeau government announced a $40-million deal to purchase 26,000 doses of the drug. That’s more than $1,500 a dose. http://torstar.co/uJUi50EwRXQ
And yet five months later, “the vast majority are sitting on a shelf. Very little of it has been used,” said Dr. Michael Silverman, head of infectious diseases at Western University and London’s St. Joseph’s hospital. http://torstar.co/uJUi50EwRXQ
