Lahore (27th April, 2020): Hospitals in New York prescribing heartburn medication to treat patients with COVID-19, according to the doctor who initiated the trial, reports CNN.
In an article published on CNN, it has been reported that hospitals in New York are conducting trials for common heartburn medication as a possible drug treatment for COVID-19. The news was reportedly confirmed by the doctor who initiated the study in New York.
It is to be noted that results for the clinical trials of famotidine, in which the active ingredient is Pepcid, are reported to come out next week as per Dr. Kevin Tracey, who is the serving President of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in the New York city and manages almost twenty-three hospitals.
Dr. Tracey said that approximately 187 patients have participated in the clinical trial while Northwell hopes to enroll almost 1200 more participants, according to CNN reports.
[bs-quote quote=”There are many examples in the history of medicine where a drug that was designed for one purpose turns out to have an effect in another disease.” style=”style-8″ align=”center” color=”#dd0000″ author_name=”Kevin Tracey ” author_job=”President, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell, New York”][/bs-quote]
Dr. Tracey said that if famotidine works, it would make treating the virus easy due to the possibility of its use on a widespread scale. He added, “It’s generic, it’s plentiful and it’s inexpensive”. However, as reported in the article published in CNN, there is doubt regarding the effectiveness of the drug.
It is to be noted, the doctor further emphasized that at the moment, the participants of the study are being administered almost nine times the amount of heartburn medication they would otherwise. Dr. Tracey advised people against buying such medication in bulk based off of the ongoing study.
According to reports of CNN, the the decision to study famotidine came after it was reported that some patients in China had improved by taking it in comparison to those who had not. It was added that Dr. Michael Callahan who has worked in close proximity with COVID-19 patients in China, has observed that people coming from lower incomes seem to fare better in comparison to those from wealthier incomes, respectively.
In addition to this, it was discovered that people coming from lower income homes were consuming famotidine, while the richer counterparts were taking a more costly counterpart. However, as per reports of Baaghi TV, Dr. Callahan has yet to confirm the claims.
Moreover, Dr. tracey statd that theoretically speaking, the famotidine drug functions along the same wavelength as that of protease inhibitors used to treat HIV, in that they both stop the virus from replicating.
The study which started in April began with doctors insisting on the usage of hydroxychloroquine, however, it may not be used any longer since the US Food and Drug Administration warned (FDA) has issued warnings against its use. Dr. Tracey added that Northwell has kept the study quiet because he is dubious pertaining to its success. He also expressed concern about the effect it may have on people who might suddenly rush to get heartburn medication to “mistakenly” cure loved ones of COVID-19.
According to reports of CNN, he said, “That’s the reality of trying to do the right thing in a pandemic. It’s very, very hard”.
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