In a sharp response to centre’s new protocol on Remdesivir, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it appeared that the Centre wanted people to die as the new protocol mandates the use of Remdesivir only for those Covid-19 patients who are on oxygen support.
“This is wrong. This is a complete non-application of mind. Now people who do not have oxygen will not get Remdesivir either. It appears you want people to die,” Justice Prathiba M Singh said to the central government.
The High Court also said that it seemed as if the Centre was modifying their protocol to tackle the shortage of the drug. “This is complete mismanagement,” the court said, according to PTI.
The Union health ministry on April 23 had changed the protocol to use remdesivir. The latest guidelines released by AIIMS, ICMR-COVID-19 national task force and the joint monitoring group under the Union health ministry say that remdesivir can be used in patients with moderate to severe disease within 10 days of symptom onset while plasma can be administered in early moderate disease within seven days of symptom onset. It also advised against use among patients who are “not on oxygen support or in home settings”.
It was hearing a plea by a lawyer who is suffering from COVID-19 and was able to get only three out of the six doses of Remdesivir required. Due to court”s intervention, the lawyer got the remaining vials on Tuesday (April 27) night.
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Remdesivir is being used to treat critical coronavirus patients, even though medical opinion about its effectiveness has been mixed. Experts have warned that it’s no “silver bullet”. In November, the World Health Organization had issued a conditional recommendation against the use of remdesivir in hospitalised patients, saying there was no evidence that the drug improved survival and other outcomes.
