South Dakota Launches Extensive Hydroxychloroquine Study

Hydroxychloroquine clinical studies launched for preventive and therapeutic treatments
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(Precision Vaccinations News)

South Dakota’s governor announced it is launching state-wide clinical trials of a possible treatment for COVID-19 disease. 

The medication, hydroxychloroquine, typically treat diseases such as malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

There will be in-patient and out-patient trials for patients who test positive for COVID-19 disease, and a segment for high-risk people who’ve been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Governor Kristi Noem said during a digital news conference on April 13, 2020, that “We can treat up to 100,000 people with the number of hydroxychloroquine doses we have in the state of South Dakota.”

“From Day One, I’ve said we’re going to let the science, facts, and data drive our decision-making in South Dakota,” Noem said in a statement provided to Fox News.

“The healthcare community in South Dakota consistently works together with the state for the benefit of all our patients,” added South Dakota Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon.

All three of the state’s major healthcare systems are on board, said Governor Noem.

Dr. Allison Suttle, the chief medical officer for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, says researchers are learning hydroxychloroquine may prevent viruses from entering a person’s cells. 

“The only way a virus works is if it can infect another person and another person and another person," she explains. 

"So if we can stop the virus from entering the human cell, we can stop the virus from spreading.”

“So now that the state has been able to get enough samples of the medication, every South Dakotan who has COVID-19 can have that discussion with their physician: ‘Am I a good option to receive hydroxychloroquine to help fight this disease,” Dr. Suttle said.

Dr. Suttle adds the trials won’t impact the drug’s supply for people who use it to treat other conditions.

Sanford has had the benefit of time to prepare for this pandemic and has been able to procure an adequate supply of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 positive patients while ensuring the medication remains available for patients taking it for other conditions. 

Sanford currently has clinical guidelines in place to prescribe hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients. 

South Dakota’s announcement follows the National Institutes of Health said it would run a human clinical trial for hydroxychloroquine. The trial, which started last week, began with 500 adult participants enrolled at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

And, on April 7, 2020, the FDA approved an Abbreviated New Drug Application for Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate Tablets USP, 200 mg. for the treatment for various disease.

Precision Vaccinations published medication and vaccine development news regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Our Trust Standards: Medical Advisory Committee

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