On today’s episode of the I AM BIO Podcast, BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath speaks with an autoimmune disease expert and patient advocate about how the pandemic is affecting vulnerable patients—and how policy could help or hurt.
1 in 7 Americans suffer from at least one autoimmune disease—and these patients are at greater risk of serious complications from COVID-19, explains Randy Rutta, President and CEO of the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA).
Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients face another stressor: shortages of hydroxychloroquine. The drug eases symptoms and controls flare-ups for these patients, but one-third have struggled to fill prescriptions due to off-label use for COVID-19.
But remember, hydroxychloroquine is not an approved COVID-19 treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) briefly issued an emergency use authorization but revoked it in June based on the science.
How will Trump’s drug pricing executive order affect all of this? Patients in Europe with autoimmune diseases often have “spotty or limited” access to new therapies, said Rutta. “Importing both the pricing model and, in some cases, some of the methodology behind those pricing models, would just not be good for the American public and certainly not for people with autoimmune disease.”
Listen to the whole thing to learn more about how AARDA is addressing the hydroxychloroquine shortage, how people with autoimmune disease can cope with the pandemic, and why it’s important for everyone (who is able) to get a future COVID-19 vaccine.
Get the podcast at www.bio.org/podcast or Apple, Google, or Spotify.
More Health Care News:
The Wall Street Journal: Latest research points to children carrying, transmitting coronavirus
“Children might be more vulnerable to COVID-19 than once believed, with new research suggesting that they are able to contract and spread the virus, especially if they don’t take precautions such as wearing a mask.”
The Washington Post: How America can build herd immunity to the coronavirus
“To build herd immunity without the sickness and death of uncontrolled spread, pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine."