Letter to Alex Azar, Secretary of the Dept. of Health and Human Services - Crist Leads Delegation Call for Expedited Resupply of Remdesivir

Letter

Dear Mr. Secretary:

As Members of Congress from the State of Florida, the global epicenter of new coronavirus cases, we write to bring your attention to an urgent and deteriorating situation in our state. With new cases and the state's positivity rate running dangerously high, hospitalizations -- a lagging indicator of the virus' spread -- are trending precariously higher. Staff capacity is strained; the number of available ICU beds are dwindling; and we are running out of Remdesivir, a drug used by hospitals to shorten the duration of COVID-19 and decrease the amount of coronavirus in patients.

The Florida Department of Health, which allocates Remdesivir to hospitals, recently informed hospital pharmacies that the agency had temporarily exhausted all stock of the drug. According to health professionals we are hearing from, people will die without replenished stock of treatment. Recently, the State of Florida requested additional, emergency supplies of Remdesivir from HHS, and we strongly urge you to expedite consideration of this request.

Further complicating the situation, we were informed by the State of Florida that effective July 13, HHS will implement a new model for the distribution of Remdesivir. With the State allocation exhausted, this seems to leave a gap of at least 6 days that Florida patients will go without access to the treatment. Please provide specific details regarding the operation of the new model so Floridians can be confident that they will have access to treatment should they get sick with COVID-19. A clear and transparent process is in the best interest of patients. With time of the essence, we appreciate your immediate consideration of these urgent matters.

Sincerely,