The U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently issued an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma in part based on studies like one that Lee Health has been participating in. This local trial has been part of Mayo Clinic’s national COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Study.
Convalescent plasma is extracted from the blood of people who have recovered from COVID-19 and then given to people with active infections. The FDA approval came as a surprise to many doctors and researchers, including Dr. Doug Brust, he is an infectious disease doctor with Lee Health who has been leading the local plasma trial. He says that he does think the FDA approval had been politicized, but he also says that does not mean convalescent plasma doesn’t provide a benefit to patients. And that this approval means the use of convalescent plasma is now on hold.
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