PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Memorial Hospital Pembroke officials say their phone line has been bombarded with people calling after Local 10 reported Monday that the hospital was administering monoclonal antibody treatments to COVID-19 patients in the earliest stages.
Hospital officials are stressing that if you’re interested you must first call your doctor. Those eligible for the treatment will be referred to the hospital by their doctor.
At Memorial Hospital Pembroke and also Mount Sinai Medical Center, South Floridians are now getting the same drug from Regeneron that President Donald Trump took after testing positive for COVID-19 back in October, or Eli Lilly’s version of the monoclonal antibodies.
It’s only available for people over 55, with underlying health conditions and who have tested positive for COVID-19.
And timing is everything.
Doctors say the dose should be taken within 10 days of showing symptoms.
Again, those eligible must be referred to a hospital by their doctor.
Hospital officials say their goal with the treatment is to reduce the number people needing to be admitted for COVID-19.
“We can actually keep patients from having to get sicker and use the emergency department,” said David Starnes, Memorial Hospital Pembroke’s chief nursing officer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued an emergency use authorization for the treatments
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