WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says the federal government has granted emergency authorization for treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma.
Flanked by FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar Trump made the announcement from the White House briefing room.
While Trump is calling the move “a breakthrough” and one of his top health officials says it is “promising,” other health experts say the therapeutic needs more study before it can be celebrated.
In a letter describing the emergency authorization, the chief scientist for the FDA, Denise Hinton, said: “COVID-19 convalescent plasma should not be considered a new standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Additional data will be forthcoming from other analyses and ongoing, well-controlled clinical trials in the coming months.”
JUST ANNOUNCED: @US_FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma as a treatment for Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/tzOhl32com
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 23, 2020
The blood plasma is taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and is rich in antibodies. It may provide benefits to those battling the disease, but the evidence has been inconclusive as to how it works or how best to administer it.
Meantime, a North Texas doctor who was the first in the metroplex to use convalescent plasma to treat a COVID patient is supportive of the Trump administration’s decision.
Dr. John Burk of Texas Pulmonary & Critical Care Consultants
“It is as effective as or perhaps more than anything else we have to offer at this time.”
Dr. John Burk admitted to WFAA-TV that its benefits are still unclear.
Carter Blood Care says nearly 6,000 units of convalescent plasma have already been used in Dallas-Fort Worth.
(Copyright 2020 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News. This report contains material from the WFAA-TV)
