Congresswoman Claudia Tenney Highlights Importance of Early Access to COVID-19 Therapeutic Treatments

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) today sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to increase early access to lifesaving therapeutic treatment options to COVID-19. Despite their proven effectiveness, New Yorkers are still having difficulty accessing FDA-approved therapeutic options like monoclonal antibody treatments.

“Our state has tragically lost more than 54,200 New Yorkers since the start of the pandemic. While unconstitutional mandates and expansive overreach are not the answers, there is more we can do to expand early access to FDA-approved therapeutics. Increasing access to proven therapeutic options like monoclonal antibody treatments will relieve stress on our strained hospital system and improve health outcomes for New Yorkers, especially the most vulnerable. I am urging Governor Hochul to take immediate steps to increase early access,” said Congresswoman Tenney.

Full text of Tenney’s letter can be found here or read below. 

Dear Governor Hochul,

As New York State continues to face the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we work to keep patients out of the hospital and help them recover as quickly as possible without unconstitutional mandates or government overreach. I urge you to expand access to FDA-approved therapeutics to help patients with COVID-19 recover faster in an outpatient setting. This is a strong compliment to voluntary vaccination efforts and will reduce the strain on our hospitals.  

Throughout the pandemic, the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) has approved multiple medications for their proven ability to reduce the severity and duration of COVID-19. For example, trial data submitted to the FDA has proven that early intervention with monoclonal antibody treatment in high-risk patients reduces hospitalizations and death from COVID-19 by 70%. In response to these developments, many states have worked to expand access to these treatments, acknowledging their efficacy and usefulness in reducing the strain on limited hospital resources. For example, on August 12, 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the launch of a rapid response unit in Florida for monoclonal antibody COVID-19 treatment to help keep high-risk patient categories out of the hospital. This initiative has been a success, with the State of Florida announcing on August 30, 2021, that over 30,000 patients have so far received this safe and effective therapeutic treatment. 

However, in New York State, many COVID-19 patients, and constituents of mine have complained that they have not been able to access these therapeutic options and are only able to receive the care they need after being admitted to a hospital. This is increasing the strain on hospitals and failing to prevent mild cases of COVID-19 from developing into more serious ones. The deployment of more targeted and nimble therapeutic solutions would allow many patients to receive care at an outpatient clinic and safely recover at home, thereby greatly reducing the strain on our healthcare system across the state. 

With the proven results of therapeutics, it is important that New York State act quickly to expand access to these effective treatment options. New York State could use some of the $12.6 billion it received in state aid in the American Rescue Plan to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to working with you to ensure all New Yorkers have access to these lifesaving treatments. 

Sincerely,

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