Medication illustration. – Pixabay
To great ills, great means. In French hospitals, caregivers will be allowed to use medicines normally intended for animals to treat patients with coronavirus, indicates a decree published this Thursday at
Official Journal and relayed by BFMTV. A radical measure, intended to counter
the shortage which threatens certain drugs required for resuscitation and intensive care.
“Very high tensions” on certain molecules
On Thursday, April 2, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe acknowledged “very strong tensions” over the supply of certain drugs, such as curare, midazolam and propofol. Anesthetics or hypnotics used in resuscitation services, which have become essential “all over the world and at the same time”.
The decree specifies that in the event of “inability to supply pharmaceutical specialties for human use, medicines for veterinary use with the same therapeutic aim (…) may be prescribed, prepared, dispensed and administered in hospitals”.
Caregivers Asked to Report Possible “Adverse Effects”
The National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) will have to draw up the list of veterinary drugs which can be used on humans, as well as the conditions which will allow their use on certain patients suffering from coronavirus.
Health professionals are invited to report any adverse effects to the health authorities. These veterinary drugs will be covered by Social Security under the same conditions as ordinary drugs.
