The FDA can save thousands of lives today with Merck's new COVID drug

Molnupiravir pills are ready to go. The government has prepurchased 1.7 million treatment courses. The medication doesn’t require refrigeration and is easy to ship. These pills are sitting on a shelf as Americans are dying in hospitals.

Advertisement

Molnupiravir was so effective in its randomized controlled trial that researchers stopped accepting new participants. The drug’s observed survival benefit was dramatic: No Covid patient who received molnupiravir died, compared with eight deaths in the placebo group. When a drug shows such profound benefits, it’s considered unethical to continue to give sick subjects a placebo. Yet practicing physicians can’t give molnupiravir to any sick patient because of a regulatory barrier.

Compassionate use doesn’t preclude further study. The drug could be administered broadly on a protocol, and outcomes could be tracked closely, as was done with convalescent plasma. Those results can help inform the FDA’s review, pending full approval.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement