Illinois

Peoria Hospitals Receive First Doses of Experimental COVID-19 Drug Remdesivir

WCBU | By Tim Shelley

Published May 18, 2020 at 6:09 PM CDT

Dr. Praveen Sudhindra, infectious disease specialist at UnityPoint Health - Methodist.

Peoria hospitals are now offering the experimental drug remdesivir as a treatment option for certain COVID-19 patients.UnityPoint Health - Methodist and OSF Saint Francis Medical Center received doses of the antiviral drug last week. It has shown some positive effects for COVID-19 patients in early clinical trials. The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency authorization for its usage as a COVID-19 treatment.

Dr. Praveen Sudhindra is an infection disease specialist at Methodist.

"It seems to shorten the duration of illness, and has shown some clinical improvement. There's been a weak signal of mortality benefit in some patients, but we still don't have the full data," he said.

The state of Illinois received 140 doses of remdesivir about a week ago. Methodist has enough doses to treat three to six patients. None of the five COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized at Methodist are eligible to try the treatment.

"The allocations are limited at this time, and are determined by the state department of health based on the census and acquity at each hospital," said Sudhindra.

Patients suffering from pneumonia or requiring oxygen may be eligible to try remdesivir. That includes patients currently on a ventilator system. But those suffering from organ failure are considered to be too ill to benefit from the drug.

"This is something that we discuss with the patients or their families, if the patient is not able to make decisions for themselves," he said. "And we go over the investigational needs of the drug, that it's still in clinical trials, and not yet proven to be of clinical benefit."

Methodist has also used convalescent plasma therapy with two patients.

Sudhindra said UnityPoint initially tried prescribing hydroxychloroquine, but backed off as data coming in from New York and other high-volume COVID-19 areas didn't bear supporting its continued usage.

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