Game-changing Covid pills remain out of reach for some patients - POLITICO - POLITICO

The two pill options — Molnupiravir from Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Paxlovid from Pfizer — already came with some caveats.

Paxlovid interacts with a host of blood pressure, cholesterol and other widely used drugs, meaning patients may have to suspend taking those medications.

regulators have authorized a second pill against COVID-19, an antiviral drug from Merck that may help blunt the wave of infections driven by the omicron variant.

That could create an access merry-go-round where patients may need to visit a testing site, a doctor’s office and then a participating pharmacy just to get the drugs — a prospect one state health official said was akin to “sending you on a goose chase to try and find these meds.”.

“And that’s assuming all three of those go well” — meaning patients can get appointments and avoid visiting multiple pharmacies to find the drugs.

One state Nomi Health's Newman works with had planned to replicate its Covid vaccine drive by making Paxlovid available in grocery store pharmacies — until officials realized that none of those locations has a drive-through option to allow Covid patients to stay outside.

and the need to evaluate patients for pre-existing conditions that may put them at high risk for progression to severe Covid-19, including hospitalization or death,” FDA spokesperson Chanapa Tantibanchachai told POLITICO.

Pharmacists say their omission from that list ignores the work they already put into testing and advising Covid patients and what they're doing to educate both consumers and doctors about how the pills may interact with other prescriptions or supplements they take, as well as how to take the multi-day courses.

What that means is pharmacists can go as far as ordering the treatments before they're stopped in their tracks, said Kurt Proctor, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the National Community Pharmacists Association.

The nature of the drugs requires pharmacists to extensively review patients’ medical histories and medication regimens to ensure the pill they’re prescribed is the best option for them.

Patients may need to temporarily stop their maintenance medications or avoid Paxlovid altogether.

This image provided by Pfizer in October 2021 shows the company's COVID-19 Paxlovid pills.

22, 2021 authorized the first pill against COVID-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans will be able to take at home to head off the worst effects of the virus.

“To provide this federal asset to patients that need it — given the guardrails that must be in place for appropriate utilization — it can’t be an unfunded mandate, whether it be on the insurers or on our pharmacies,” Snead said.

The Biden administration has highlighted its efforts to accelerate research and manufacturing for Paxlovid with Pfizer, making the case the country is awash with the treatments

In coastal Virginia, Sterling Ransone, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said the closest retail pharmacy with Covid antivirals on hand is an hour away from his hometown — a barrier for Covid patients who are older, unable to drive or can’t afford to take that long of a trip