Last week, the World Health Organization came out against remdesivir, one of the most popular antiviral therapies for COVID-19, threatening to blow up some clinical practices in the United States. “I’ve no idea how to approach this,” Yogen Kanthi, a cardiologist at the Northville Health Center in Michigan, told The Daily Beast.
Many doctors stand by remdesivir, a product of California pharma Gilead originally designed to treat hepatitis C. The WHO’s stance, they argue, was based on a relatively low-quality survey of the drug’s effectiveness, and Gilead has called the agency’s position “disappointing.” But remdesivir’s popularity among U.S. clinicians as a COVID treatment is largely based on findings of modest effectiveness, and in poorer countries where medical resources are thin, the drug’s benefits might not justify its hefty price tag.
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