HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida family is desperate for help as they wait for a medication that’s in short supply.
Remdesivir, a scarce emergency drug for critically ill COVID-19 patients, has been delivered to South Florida, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Annabelle Lima Taub, the Hallandale Beach Commissioner, said, “Bob is an incredibly giving man, he’s been with the city for over 20 years. He’s our annual Santa in our Christmas parade. He contacted me a little over a week ago, and he said, ‘Annabelle, I probably won’t be able to speak to you for a while. I’ve been diagnosed with COVID.'”
A few days later, the Hallandale Beach heavy equipment operator was hospitalized as his conditioned worsened.
Taub said, “They took him off the ventilator, and they had to put him back on. The family got a call that the situation was very dire.”
Taub started a petition to encourage people to donate plasma and lobbied DeSantis to provide remdesivir for him.
The drug has shown promise in very ill patients.
At a Monday evening press conference, DeSantis said, “The physicians like it, and with the uptick of people in the hospital, it was needed, so that was able to drop. We’re obviously going to work to make sure that supply is replenished.”
DeSantis said the state received remdesivir doses from the federal government and from the state of New York.
Taub said, “We’re asking for plasma, O-positive plasma. It keeps me up at night, and it keeps a lot of other people up at night because Bob is not an anomaly in this. There are quite a few patients in his shoes, unfortunately.”
Aventura Hospital released a statement that reads in part, “For all patients, diagnosis and treatment is individualized on a case-by-case basis to provide best care for COVID-19 and any other condition. Regarding remdesivir, Aventura Hospital and Medical Center follows the established, need-based, federal allocation process that has been publicly disclosed. The availability of remdesivir is currently very limited, though all parties are hopeful it will increase in the future.”
The hospital also said that when it comes to donated plasma, if there’s a good match, the donation will go through OneBlood.
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