“Convalescent plasma should not be considered standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19,” added the committee, which evaluates treatments for coronavirus. “Prospective, well-controlled, adequately powered randomized trials are needed to determine whether convalescent plasma is effective and safe for the treatment of COVID-19. The timing raised suspicions the White House had pressured FDA – something FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn denied several times. But Hahn had also made misleading comments about the data supporting the use of convalescent plasma – which is the antibody-rich serum taken from the blood of people who have recovered from an infection. “The long-term risks of treatment with COVID-19 convalescent plasma and whether its use attenuates the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, making patients more susceptible to reinfection, have not been evaluated,” the statement added.

Source: CNN September 01, 2020 22:04 UTC