A month in the past, I complained that individuals had been dying as a result of pharmacists weren’t allowed to prescribe Paxlovid:
In my case, I obtained the prescription after a few 15 second session with an individual I’d by no means met over a telemedicine zoom assembly. Couldn’t a pharmacist do this? Apparently not:
Even should you qualify, somebody will nonetheless need to prescribe the drug, which suggests the pharmacy you get examined at might want to have a clinic, like CVS’ MinuteClinic, the place an expert can display screen, diagnose and prescribe. Solely 10% of CVS drugstores and even fewer Walgreens have clinicians on web site.
I perceive that pharmacists may make a number of extra errors of their 15 seconds of questioning than the telemedicine operator I spoke with. However 350 individuals are dying every single day. Is the FDA this on a value/profit foundation?
Right this moment, I learn that the federal authorities has lastly seen the sunshine:
Pharmacists can prescribe the main COVID-19 capsule on to sufferers beneath a brand new U.S. coverage introduced Wednesday that’s supposed to broaden use of Pfizer’s drug Paxlovid.
The Meals and Drug Administration mentioned pharmacists can start screening sufferers to see if they’re eligible for Paxlovid after which prescribe the treatment, which has been proven to curb the worst results of COVID-19. Beforehand solely physicians may prescribe the antiviral drug.
The announcement comes as COVID-19 instances, hospitalizations and deaths are rising once more, although they continue to be close to their lowest ranges because the coronavirus outbreak started in 2020.
Biden administration officers have expressed frustration that a number of hundred Individuals proceed to die of COVID-19 day by day, regardless of the supply of vaccines and coverings.
It’s essential that we don’t blindly depend on specialists, and as an alternative maintain their ft to the hearth when they don’t seem to be taking prices and advantages under consideration in policymaking. Too usually, bureaucrats comply with inflexible guidelines and don’t pay adequate consideration to the broader welfare of society. The US continues to be dropping greater than 300 folks a day to Covid, lots of them needlessly.
When a free individual makes a mistake, that individual suffers. When a bureaucrat makes a mistake, tens of millions of individuals could undergo.
