How effective has Remdesivir been in COVID-19 treatment? Dr P Kuganantham answers

Antiviral drug Remdesivir has not proven effective in treating COVID-19 patients and it certainly does not guarantee to save lives. Many medical professionals and healthcare experts believe that Coronavirus patients are treated with a combination of drugs, and using Remdesivir in particular, is not necessary.

A panel of senior doctors who have been treating Coronavirus patients from the beginning of the pandemic gave an eye-opening explanation for the need to drop Remdesivir from COVID-19 treatment.

How effective has Remdesivir been in COVID-19 treatment?

“Remdesivir is used by many nursing homes and hospitals. As we have been using it since the first wave, conventionally people believe that it could give relief to Coronavirus patients. But we feel that the patients who are given this treatment show little improvement in the first 7-10 days. Maybe it reduces their hospital stay but it has not proven effective in anything beyond that. Some patients have succumbed due to severe COVID-19 even after taking Remdesivir,” said Dr P Kuganantham.

According to him, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Government of India should come forward to say that Remdesivir is not necessary for Coronavirus treatment. He said that the use of Remdisivir is creating a panic among people as they stand in long queues for hours to purchase the drug and many others resort to selling them in the black market.

“Bottom line is that Remdesivir is not required for treating COVID-19. Regular medicines like steroids, blood thinners, other drugs are sufficient to treat the disease. We have successfully treated nearly 4,000 patients without the use of Remdesivir. All the drugs that we follow conventionally, in the western world do not show vast improvement as severe patients still succumb to the illness after receiving Remdesivir medication,” Dr P Kuganantham explained.

What are the side effects of Remdesivir drug?

“When a patient recovering from COVID-19 suffers from long-term illness, we usually blame the virus. So, it is difficult to know the side effects of Remdesivir, if any. However, I agree that the anti-viral drug got really hyped during this pandemic, the result of which we have seen over the last few months. There is a mad rush for a medicine that has hardly any mortality benefit for any group of patients. It does nothing more than reducing the hospital stay of a patient,” said Dr Neeraj J Nischal.

“A drug which has a limited role in curing patients should not be projected as it can save lives, which is the common notion today. It should be reinforced in the minds of people that the treatment for COVID-19 is largely supportive. Most patients will not require any specific treatment. Only the group of patients who suffer from desaturation, prolonged fever and inflammatory response going out of control, will require oxygen, steroids and anti-cognition. Apart from these, I don’t think Remdesivir is required to treat any COVID-19 patient,” he added.

There has been a massive demand for Remdesivir drugs in recent months, as the second wave of COVID-19 struck the country, leading to a surge in positive cases. The increase in demand for Remdesivir led to the idea that it can save lives, caused a severe shortage of medicine and encouraged incidents of black marketing. The Government subsequently ramped up its production and began to supply excess vials to various states as per the demand. Amidst all the hype, the Chairperson of Delhi’s Dr Ganga Ram hospital, Dr DS Rana said that they are considering dropping Remdesivir from COVID-19 treatment as there is no evidence of its effectiveness.