DeSantis Is Wrong, Wrong, Wrong About Antibody Treatments the Drug Companies Themselves Say Don’t Work Against Omicron
Yesterday, Florida governor Ron DeSenatis threw a politically-motivated temper tantrum after the Biden administration said it would stop sending Florida antibody treatments that don’t work against Omicron. Even the makers of the antibody drugs agree that extensive testing proves they are not effective against the variant currently responsible for 99% of cases nationwide. DeSantis has promoted vaccine hesitancy by refusing to say whether or not he’s had a booster shot and encouraging unproven treatments against COVID-19, all with the goal of pandering to the extremists in his base to score political points. His actions put his own constituents at risk, and his latest fit is just another move in the long line of his blatant attempts to make the pandemic last as long as possible.
Below is a collection of reactions to show just how wrong DeSantis is:
Headlines:
Orlando Sentinel: DeSantis Blasts Biden for Ending Antibody Treatments Even as Drugmakers Say They Don’t Work. “Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed the Biden administration Tuesday for dropping two antibody treatments for COVID-19 that he has championed, even though the drugmakers themselves concede they are ineffective against omicron.
Monoclonal antibodies from Regeneron and Eli Lilly should no longer be used because they don’t work against the omicron variant that now accounts for nearly all U.S. infections, federal regulators said Monday night.” [1/25/21]
CNN: Florida Shuts Down All Monoclonal Antibody Treatment Sites After FDA Decision to Limit Use of Certain Treatments Not Proven Effective Against Omicron. “The FDA’s announcement came after senior health officials in the Biden administration called the offices of governors and state health officials earlier this month, urging them against using these treatments with Omicron, a source familiar with the calls said. DeSantis has made monoclonal antibodies a cornerstone of his response to surges of coronavirus cases, often pushing the treatment more vigorously than vaccines.” [1/25/21]
Washington Post: DeSantis, Conservatives Erupt Over FDA Pulling Monoclonal Antibodies Shown to Be Ineffective Against Omicron. “Similarly, despite DeSantis’s claim that there is not “a shred of clinical data to support” the FDA’s decision, there is significant data on the monoclonal antibodies’ lack of effectiveness against the omicron variant in a laboratory setting. As Nature reported more than a month ago, preliminary studies suggested that monoclonal antibody therapies, including the ones the FDA has now halted, showed virtually no efficacy against the omicron variant.” [1/25/21]
Washington Post Opinion: Republicans Like Ron DeSantis Keep Kowtowing to the MAGA Cult — Even if It Threatens Lives. “Consider Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who refused to heed public health experts’ advice in the pre-vaccination era and then hobbled vaccine and mask mandates by penalizing local officials who implemented them. Now, he is sounding nearly as nutty as the defeated former president, who hawked crackpot cures for covid-19 such as “light inside the body” or injections of disinfectant.” [1/26/21]
Yahoo News: DeSantis Demands COVID Treatments Deemed Ineffective by FDA. “Most epidemiologists and public health experts agree that Floridians would have been better served by a campaign in favor of vaccines, as opposed to one reliant on an ineffective treatment. ‘You’d rather prevent something than get an illness,’ says Andy Slavitt, who served as a top Biden administration pandemic adviser until June. Slavitt added that neither Eli Lilly nor Regeneron had countered the findings that their antibody products don’t work well against Omicron.” [1/25/21]
The Hill: White House Dismisses DeSantis Calls to Reverse Decision on Antibody Therapies That Don’t Work. “The treatments were highly effective at keeping out of the hospital people who were infected with the original strain of the coronavirus, as well as the delta variant, but studies in labs have shown they do not work against omicron. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 99 percent of infections nationwide are now from omicron.” [1/25/21]
Tweets:
Daniel Dale (CNN): “As the DeSantis administration rails against the FDA decision to limit use of monoclonal antibody treatments made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, worth noting both companies say they agree with the feds that these drugs aren’t effective against omicron.” [1/25/22]
Kyle Griffin (MSNBC): “The FDA pulled two COVID antibody treatments after finding them ineffective against omicron. Republican Ron DeSantis said he might sue. Jen Psaki said DeSantis’s position was ‘crazy; when the government is still supplying the treatment — just not the ineffective brands.” [1/26/22]
Rep. Carlos G. Smith (FL-HD-49): “Regeneron + Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody treatments don’t work against Omicron. They shouldn’t be used because the science, the FDA, AMA, NIH and the manufacturers themselves tell us they are NOT effective. Why is #DeSantis obsessing over ineffective treatments? This is crazy.” [1/25/22]
Dr. Craig Spencer, MD MPH: “Many hospitals—including my own—stopped using Regeneron & Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody treatments weeks ago because they don’t work against Omicron. This has nothing to do with Florida. Or FDA malfeasance. Or politics. It’s just facts.” [1/25/22]