U.S. FDA authorizes use of blood plasma to treat coronavirus

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on Sunday said it authorized the use of blood plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 as a treatment for the disease, a day after President Donald Trump blamed the agency for impeding the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics for political reasons.

The announcement from the FDA of a so-called “emergency use authorization” also comes on the eve of the Republican National Convention, where Trump will be nominated to lead his party for four more years.

A day before the FDA’s announcement, Trump tagged the agency’s Commissioner Stephen Hahn in a tweet and said, “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics.” “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”

The FDA, which appeared to rush with an announcement on Sunday, said early evidence suggests blood plasma can decrease mortality and improve the health of patients when administered in the first three days of their hospitalization.

It was not immediately clear what the immediate impact of this decision would be.

“It appeared that the product is safe and we’re comfortable with that and we continue to see no concerning safety signals,” said Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said on a conference call with reporters.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-trump-plasma/u-s-fda-authorizes-use-of-blood-plasma-to-treat-coronavirus-idUSKBN25J0RY

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