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Lifesaving COVID Drugs Are Sitting Unused on Pharmacy Shelves

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This makes me angry and sad at the same time.

CLL / SLL patients are being refused Evusheld while tens of thousands of unused doses are even expiring.

This is a quote from the NPR article using Human and Health Services (HHS) data.

“Evusheld, a preventive shot of monoclonal antibodies that helps protect immunocompromised people from infection, is not widely used — just 54% of the 848,000 doses available have been sent out, and just a quarter of those ordered have been used.”

There are similar problems with many meds used to treat those with COVID-19.

The reasons are multiple.

  • Haphazard distribution.
  • Inconsistent and widely varied criteria for use and prioritization.
  • Confusion about who is authorized and would benefit from prophylaxis and treatment.
  • Lack of awareness of the therapies by healthcare professionals.
  • Lack of awareness of the therapies by the patients.
  • The need for a doctor’s order when some refuse to prescribe COVID-19 prophylaxis or treatment because they “only treat the CLL.”
  • Delays in testing to confirm the diagnosis or deciding treatment are needed, leading to being outside the benefits window.
  • Unfounded fears about the treatment.
  • The unproven and largely ineffective therapies first make it too late to receive proven therapies.

CLL Society is doing what it can to remedy the situation.

Look at this from NPR: Lifesaving COVID drugs are sitting unused on pharmacy shelves, HHS data shows.

As I said, it makes me angry and sad.

Stay strong.  We are all in this together.

Brian Koffman MDCM (retired) MS Ed
Co-Founder, Executive VP, and Chief Medical Officer

CLL Society - COVID-19
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When appropriate, the CLL Society will be posting updates and background information on the present Coronavirus pandemic focusing on reliable primary sources of information and avoiding most of the news that is not directly from reliable medical experts or government and world health agencies.