Physicians say they are concerned about the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) updated guidance on therapeutics for COVID-19 patients.
“No specific antiviral or immunomodulatory therapy” is recommended for COVID-19 patients who are not hospitalized or are hospitalized without requiring supplemental oxygen the guidance states.
“Concerned physicians on the front lines of the pandemic are bound by their Hippocratic Oath to protect patients, but NIH’s radical step would criminalize medical ethics if it’s allowed to stand,” Gold says.
The NIH didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
Dr. Scott Jensen, a family physician and a Republican state senator in Minnesota, said in a Facebook post that patients should be allowed to discuss and explore possible treatments with their physicians instead of waiting until their symptoms worsen.
“My patients are telling me that they would like to try something,” Jensen says. “They don’t want to be told that they either have to get better on their own or get bad enough to go into the hospital and then potentially be faced with a choice between a ventilator or hospice care or whatever.”
Remdesivir Approved for Severe COVID-19 Cases
The first and only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug, remdesivir, is recommended for hospitalized patients requiring supplemental oxygen or ventilation, along with or without dexamethasone, according to the guidance.President Donald Trump was prescribed remdesivir along with other drugs early after he tested positive for COVID-19.
“Had this guidance been in place a month ago, President Trump would have been denied treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center,” said Gold.