Florida policy statement good, but could have been better
Only time will tell whether doctors and hospitals will see new policy as allowing them to use safe generics now blocked by federal agencies
Days ago Florida issued this:
Use of Emerging and Off-Label Treatments
COVID-19 prevention and treatments prescribed under the guidance of a licensed health care practitioner can save lives and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Floridians. When recommending COVID-19 treatment options for patients’ individualized health care needs, physicians should exercise their individual clinical judgment and expertise based on their patients’ needs and preferences.
These options may include emerging treatments backed by quality evidence, with appropriate patient informed consent, including off-label use or as part of a clinical trial. For example:
What would have made this policy statement even better is listing ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as well as those two drugs.
This also was in the state’s notice:
It is essential to support health care providers at the forefront of health care delivery to our most vulnerable populations, especially our seniors. If you are a health care practitioner who is aware of a hospital that is preventing licensed health care providers from using evidence-based care and exercising clinical judgment in treating patients, please report those instances to the Agency for Health Care Administration.
Overall, what Florida has done is far better than other states. But let’s see if, for example, doctors will be able to use ivermectin for late state covid patients in hospitals because the ordniary hospital protocols are mostly ineffective as evidenced by a high death rate of 20%.
There have been 2 instances where Florida Hospital systems refused the administration of Ivermectin - one was the Mayo Clinic and the other was in Palm Beach. This was a couple of months ago and I believe both patients have since passed away. We need a national class action suit against any hospital that refuses IVM or HcQ brought by families affected.