HealthPartners Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit over Use of Remdesivir for COVID

Regions Hospital

Two Minnesotans have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against HealthPartners, Regions Hospital, and affiliated healthcare workers relating to the hospital’s protocols for treating COVID-19. The lawsuit claims that these protocols caused the deaths of two patients.

Specifically, the civil suit alleges that the plaintiffs’ spouses “were given Remdesivir against their wishes as part of a protocol which actually harmed them; and which protocol has served to financially enrich Health Partners, Inc., and Regions Hospital.”

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Drugmaker’s Study Shows Remdesivir Reduces COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Gilead Sciences announced in a press release Wednesday that its COVID-19 drug remdesivir reduces hospitalizations by 87% in high-risk patients.

The study consisted of 562 patients who were randomly given either remdesivir to a placebo. The company said that it saw an 87% reduction in hospitalizations after day 28, according to the press release. The trial was supposed to have over 1,000 subjects but the Gilead halted enrollment after other COVID-19 drugs became readily available.

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Governor Mike DeWine Warns Ohioans to Watch Hospital Capacity as Health Director Mulls Outpatient Treatments for COVID-19

During the Thursday COVID briefing, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said that he “took an oath to do everything to protect the lives and wellbeing of fellow Ohioans” and that the next three weeks will be the most critical in battling COVID.

DeWine then stressed the importance of Ohioans understanding and keeping an eye on hospital capacity in their respective communities.

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Ohio Governor and Chief Medical Advisor Asked About Speeding Up Delivery of Therapies to COVID Patients

The Ohio Star reported that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called a special press conference on Monday, November 23 alongside the Ohio Hospital Association leaders to address the state’s COVID hospitalization rise.

As reported, during the briefing doctors who lead each of Ohio’s three zones (the state is segmented into three areas) disclosed staffing shortages due to COVID quarantine orders, which had further depleted caregiving capacity already run thin by upticks in COVID hospital cases around the state.

The Star has received inquiries from readers describing their situations.  One woman told the story of her husband who was alerted that he had been exposed to COVID and within days began exhibiting symptoms. When he called his doctor seeking preventative therapies, he was denied.  The man was later admitted to a hospital for days, where he received therapeutic treatments that aided his recovery.

Consequently, The Star took the opportunity during Governor DeWine’s twice-weekly COVID presser on Tuesday to ask the following question:

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WHO Study Finds Remdesivir Didn’t Help COVID-19 Patients

A large study led by the World Health Organization suggests that the antiviral drug remdesivir did not help hospitalized COVID-19 patients, in contrast to an earlier study that made the medicine a standard of care in the United States and many other countries.

The results announced Friday do not negate the previous ones, and the WHO study was not as rigorous as the earlier one led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. But they add to concerns about how much value the pricey drug gives because none of the studies have found it can improve survival.

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Trump’s Sunday Presser Forces Hand of Ohio’s Dept of Health and Governor DeWine

President Donald J. Trump announced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma as a therapeutic treatment in COVID patients Sunday.

Convalescent plasma is the liquid part of the blood that contains COVID antibodies. Convalescent plasma given to COVID patients during research conducted since April by the Mayo Clinic has resulted in a 35% decrease in the incidence of death in the patients receiving the plasma, according to FDA Director Stephen Hahn.

The announcement is significant in Ohio where Republican Governor Mike DeWine has hinted for months at his hesitation to allow Ohioans to return to normal life until there is a vaccine.

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‘An Amazing Deal’: U.S. Secures Most of Global Remdesivir Supply

The United States has secured nearly the entire global supply of remdesivir, a drug that has been effective in fighting coronavirus.

Remdesivir, which is manufactured by American pharmaceutical giant Gilead, has proven to help patients with coronavirus recover faster, according to The Guardian. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secured more than 500,000 doses of the drug, accounting for the vast majority of Gilead’s July, August and September supply, according to a Monday press release.

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Money and Politics Behind Anti-Hydroxychloroquine Bias, New Report Suggests

Remdesivir, an antiviral medication that was developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, has been widely touted as the most promising drug to treat COVID-19, even though – so far – the new and expensive drug does not seem to be terribly effective at fighting the disease.

The anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, on the other hand, is cheap, has been used safely for decades, and has shown great promise as a weapon in the fight against the coronavirus – yet after President Trump mentioned it as a promising potential treatment for the disease, the media immediately blasted him for touting an “unproven” and potentially unsafe drug.

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