CEBU CITY鈥擳he province of Cebu has already been using the anti-flu medicine Avigan even before clinical trials began, a local health official said.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH), said hospitals in the province have been giving the medicine to COVID-19 patients as early as July.
鈥淭his is a drug for compassionate use,鈥� said Loreche.
鈥淥ur doctors here are using this already,鈥� she said.
Loreche said 鈥渜uite a number of hospitals鈥� in Central Visayas are using Avigan already. She said these hospitals 鈥渞equest the drug through us.鈥�
Loreche said the DOH required doctors to explain to patients that Avigan is a compassionate drug which meant that it was subject to trial.
鈥淲e do not really know the efficacy of the medicine,鈥� she added.
Compassionate drug use means the administering of a new, unapproved drug to treat a seriously ill patient when no other treatments are available.
Loreche said doctors who administer the drug should fill up 鈥渁dverse drug forms.鈥�
If there are 鈥渁dverse effects, complications or side effects鈥� on patients given Avigan, doctors have to report to the Food and Drug Administration 鈥渇or proper monitoring.鈥�
Doctors in Central Visayas were also required to keep a record of the usage of the drugs and its effects.
Avigan is being manufactured in Japan, which had shipped 199,000 tablets for trials in the Philippines, according to a report of the South China Morning Post.