THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Covid review meeting on Tuesday directed the health department to take action against private hospitals that continue to administer costly monoclonal antibody cocktail drug (mAbs) even though it was found to be ineffective against the Omicron variant. TNIE had reported on the misuse of monoclonal antibodies on January 22 and on February 7. A single dose costs between Rs 52,000 and Rs 60,000.
The government decided to regulate the drug after it was found to be in use in many private hospitals in the state. The mAbs were used effectively during the second wave to reduce the severity of the disease. Its use continued even at the beginning of the third wave when both Delta and Omicron variants were prevalent. But since the first week of January, the state is facing a third wave led by Omicron.
In the third week of January, the health department issued guidelines restricting the use of mAbs to unvaccinated people and those who are immunocompromised. It specifically asked hospital medical boards to conduct tests to rule out Omicron infection before giving the mAbs.
A week later, Health Minister Veena George announced the dominance of Omicron after 94% of the samples tested were found to be infected with the new variant. Health experts said continued use of the drug, even after it was clear that most people are infected by Omicron, was unethical.