Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ strategy to fight COVID-19 hasn’t been to fight it at all. The chief executive and rising Republican star placed on his chips on monoclonal antibody treatments, a system that treats, rather than prevents, an illness whose long-term effects are still unknown.
In a massive blow to that ass-backwards system, the Food and Drug Administration has revoked their authorization of the two widely available antibody treatments. Their reasoning, backed up by the producers of the two treatments, is that current iterations of the treatment are entirely ineffective against the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Because the treatments are no longer approved, the Florida Department of Health had to close all of DeSantis’ state-run antibody-treatment centers. The governor has thrown in behind these centers even as the need for other options (vaccination centers and testing sites, in particular) became apparent during the Omicron surge.
[content-8]In a statement, DeSantis called the move “reckless” and urged President Joe Biden to allow ineffective treatments to continue.
“Without a shred of clinical data to support this action, Biden has forced trained medical professionals to choose between treating their patients or breaking the law,” DeSantis said. “This indefensible edict takes treatment out of the hands of medical professionals and will cost some Americans their lives.”
[content-5]The Florida Department of Health struck a similar tone.
“Unfortunately, as a result of this abrupt decision made by the federal government, all monoclonal antibody state sites will be closed until further notice,” they shared in a press release. ““Florida disagrees with the decision that blocks access to any available treatments in the absence of clinical evidence. To date, such clinical evidence has not been provided by the United States Food and Drug Administration,”
The FDOH recently made headlines for suspending the head of their Orange County office after he encouraged his own staff to get vaccinated. It might be worth taking their indignation with a grain of salt.
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This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2022.