Lifesaving COVID drugs too hard for patients to access: doctors HD

Doctors say that oral COVID drugs are too hard for patients in home care to access. So far, only about 2,200 patients have been able to get Pfizer’s COVID pills at a pharmacy or a hospital. The CECC has scrapped some of the paperwork needed to prescribe these antiviral drugs. But doctors say there are still plenty of other hurdles that can delay treatment. Let’s hear from them. For COVID patients in home care, it can be hard to get a hold of antiviral therapies. Doctors say there are many hurdles that could delay treatment for those who need it. One of them is the complexities of writing a prescription remotely. Lin Yung-zen Taiwan Primary Care Association When you’re providing a video consult, there’s the question of how to get this prescription to the hands of the patient, how to send it. It’s a very troublesome affair. If I were able to print out my prescription and send a photo to the patient that could be used to collect the drug, that would be most convenient. Doctors also say that high-risk groups need access to a faster testing and diagnosis protocol, so that they can be given timely treatment. Hung Tzu-jen Shin Kong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital vice superintendent We should reserve some PCR capacity for high-risk groups and people 65 and older, so that upon developing symptoms, they can quickly get a PCR confirmation of their diagnosis and then receive more immediate treatment. Voice of Vincent Su Thoracic physician A lot of people already have a prescription for an antiviral treatment. Then they go to a nearby pharmacy and can’t get the medication, because there are only a handful of pharmacies that currently have the drugs. Like in New Taipei, there are only two or three pharmacies that have them. So that’s another bottleneck in the process. The doctor said that when antiviral medication is involved, drug interactions must be considered. The other drugs a patient is taking must be carefully evaluated. In addition, oral COVID drugs are not covered under Taiwan’s Drug Injury Relief Act. Doctors say this is a major concern, as it leaves open the question of who is responsible when problems occur. Lin Yung-zen Taiwan Primary Care Association This medication is very expensive. It’s NT$20,000. If I prescribe it, and the health ministry isn’t happy about it or thinks that the prescription doesn’t suit the patient – say that you asked my clinic to provide compensation? How could I afford it? With COVID cases on the rise, doctors fear that lifesaving drugs may not reach patients in time. They say more work must be done to ease the process of obtaining COVID drugs.