MI Gov. flip-flops on COVID-19 drug decision

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's (D) administration is now requesting an emergency supply of the drugs that President Trump praised for its efficacy in treating the Wuhan coronavirus after her administration initially forbid its use in the state.

Michigan requested hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine from the Strategic National Stockpile for physicians to use to help treat patients with Wuhan coronavirus, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the weekend granted an emergency use authorization for the anti-malarial drugs.

But last week, Whitmer’s administration threatened physicians who were prescribing the drugs, saying they were subject to “administrative action” should they continue to use the medication.

“The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs has received multiple allegations of Michigan physicians inappropriately prescribing hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine to themselves, family, friends, and/or coworkers without a legitimate medical purpose,” Deb Gagliardi, the director of the Bureau of Professional Licensing, and Forrest Pasanski, the director of the Enforcement Division, wrote in a letter to “licensed prescribers and dispensers.”

They went on to say, “Again, these drugs have not been proven scientifically or medically to treat COVID-19.”

But Michigan reversed course, requesting a supply of the medications for physicians to use in treating patients of COIVD-19, after the Department of Health and Human Services received and accepted donations of the medications to the national stockpile to be used for coronavirus treatment.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement:

“President Trump is taking every possible step to protect Americans from the coronavirus and provide them with hope. Scientists in America and around the world have identified multiple potential therapeutics for COVID-19, including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.”

He added: “The President’s bold leadership and the hard work of FDA and HHS’s Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response have succeeded in securing this large donation of medicine. We’ll continue working around the clock to get American patients access to therapeutics that may help them battle COVID-19, while building the evidence to evaluate which options are effective.”

The FDA’s emergency use authorization allows hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate products donated to the national stockpile “to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible.”

These drugs, approved for treating malaria and other diseases, are not currently approved treatments of the Wuhan coronavirus, but both have "shown activity in laboratory studies against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), HHS confirms.

“Anecdotal reports suggest that these drugs may offer some benefit in the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” HHS said in a statement. “Clinical trials are needed to provide scientific evidence that these treatments are effective.”

Meanwhile, Whitmer, a fierce critic of the president and a possible VP contender under Sleepy Joe Biden, said last week that states are being forced to bid with one another for personal protective equipment (PPE) and, in some cases, contracts in place have been set aside, delayed or canceled and the goods are instead going to the federal government.

“We the states are trying to actively get every piece of PPE that we can. We're bidding against one another and, in some cases, the federal government is taking priority,” she said.

Whitmer added: “We've got to keep working to get all of these other pieces of equipment and when we're bidding against one another, it's creating a lot of frustration and concern.”

Hopefully, everyone reading this blog will stay safe and be able to get back to work safely and soon. It isn't looking great for now, but we have the best medical experts in the world.


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