Bill Rubio and Scott would end federal rationing of monoclonal antibody treatments

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week denounced the Biden administration’s decision to reduce the state’s monoclonal antibody treatment allowance due to an increase in nationwide demand for which the governor has partially credited himself after his months-long campaign to promote the COVID-19 alternative to vaccines.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS), while increasing overall supplies by 50%, from 100,000 to 150,000 doses per week nationwide, has capped the number of doses delivered to Florida and six other southern states that had already consumed more than 70.% of monoclonal antibody treatments in the country.

According to the governor’s office, state clinics and private providers ordered about 72,000 treatments or doses of monoclonal antibodies per week. About half of this supply is needed just to power 25 state-established monoclonal treatment clinics.

But DHS rationed Florida at 30,950 doses last week and about 27,000 this week. Next week, DHS will further reduce Florida’s allowance to 25,692, less than half of the state’s request.

DeSantis, in response, allowed the state to purchase its own monoclonal antibody treatments. Last week, Florida bought 3,000 monoclonal antibody treatments from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to offset lower federal distributions.

Florida U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott maintain the Biden administration’s actions are “vengeful, politically motivated” and say DHS is not on a mission to ration the supply of monoclonal antibody treatments in places where demand is high.

Rubio and Scott joined their Republican colleagues Roger Marshall, Kansas, Kevin Cramer North Dakota, Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee, Mike Braun, Indiana, and Tommy Tuberville, Alabama, on Tuesday to present the Restoration of Therapeutic Antibody Act. emergency (TREAT).

The treatments bill, which was not officially tabled on Wednesday, would ban DHS from prohibiting hospitals and other healthcare providers from ordering monoclonal antibody treatments directly from manufacturers to meet local demand. .

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“This brutal policy change by the Biden administration is nothing more than an attempt to punish Florida,” Rubio said in a statement on Tuesday. “We cannot allow the vindictive and politically motivated actions of this administration to endanger the health and safety of Floridians and others. My bill would restore fairness by allowing hospitals and other appropriate health care facilities direct access to this life-saving treatment from the manufacturers. “

Scott called the rationing of DHS “unacceptable and unethical” and said monoclonal antibody treatment should be distributed where demand is greatest.

“When lives are at stake, no resource should be intentionally withheld by the Biden administration through dangerous political games,” Scott said. “I am proud to join with Senator Rubio in introducing the Treat Act to ensure Florida receives effective treatment for COVID-19. I won’t accept anything less.

The White House has denied the rationing is politically motivated and said DeSantis and Republican senators are the ones making politically motivated allegations that ignore the dramatic increase in demand for treatment across the county.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told a press briefing in mid-September that the Biden administration was not restricting, but expanding access to treatment by 50% this month and that rationing for states that previously had the highest demand is short-term supply. and the issue of equity.

“At the beginning of August, we were distributing an average of 100,000 doses per week. Now we ship an average of 150,000 doses per week, ”she said. “But over the past month, considering the increase in cases due to the delta variant and the lower number of vaccination rates in some of these states – like Florida, like Texas – only seven states account for 70% of the orders.”

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Key words: News, Marco Rubio, Florida, State

Original author: John Haughey, The Center Square contributor

Original location: Bill Rubio and Scott would end federal rationing of monoclonal antibody treatments