NJ’s prescription for COVID, stay put ’til you get worse (Opinion)

What's been puzzling to many of us who've had COVID or known someone close to us that has, is the lack of substantial treatment for the virus. Most of the people I've known who've gotten COVID have been told by their doctor to sit tight, rest and be sure to quarantine for 10 days.

Then everyone I know who's had it got worse at home as they waited for it to pass and at least two people in my family were then hospitalized when things got worse. Luckily, they got the expensive drug Remdesivir, which is only administered intravenously, and then discharged after about a week in the hospital alone with no visitors.

Seems archaic and not very pro-active for a country with the most advanced medical resources in the world.

When we talked about it last week, most of the callers had similar experiences and the same question: "Why wasn't I given anything that might have stopped the virus from getting worse?"

Two western New York hospitals were sued for not administering a drug called Ivermectin, that has had success in treating patients with COVID-19.

A judged ordered the hospitals to give the medication to a woman who had good results with the medication when first administered, then was denied the drug because it wasn't authorized hospital protocol. When she was given the drug again, she recovered.

A listener wrote to us to let us know she and her daughter contracted COVID-19 and went to a telemedicine site, which got them an appointment in two hours and prescribed Ivermectin. She said she was symptom free the next morning after just one day on Ivermectin.

Other therapeutics that have shown promise like hydroxychloroquine combined with zinc, vitamin D and a Z-pac have also shown great results, according to many physicians who used the combination to help patients recover and avoid hospitalization. These medications are well documented to be safe for over 60 years in treating other ailments with limited side-effects, are inexpensive and widely available.

So why not treat patients who come down with the novel coronavirus instead of make them suffer at home, while we all wait for the magical vaccine? Ohhhh, could it be big pharma, in concert with the government, want it that way, more than they want you to get well? I don't know, but it doesn't seem to make sense. Does it make sense to you?

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis's own.