Family of coronavirus patient on life support makes plea for experimental drug
Elana Goldsmith, whose husband Michael is on life support after contracting COVID-19, speaks out.
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It’s been a “difficult time" for the family of Michael Goldsmith, a 34-year-old father of two who is on life support after being diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Michael’s family has made a desperate plea to get him the experimental drug treatment remdesivir, which has been described as his only hope for recovery.
“It’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster,” Michael’s wife Elana told “Outnumbered Overtime.”
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Goldsmith said that her family cannot access the drug remdesivir because Michael does not qualify for “compassionate use.”
“When we applied for compassionate use before Michael was intubated on Friday, March 20th, he could have qualified for it, however, Gilead changed their guidelines to only include pregnant women and children under 18 for compassionate use,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith went on to say, “He no longer qualifies for clinical trial because the Gilead guidelines say you have to be intubated less than four days and by the time Gilead approved Michael to join the clinical trial, he had already been intubated for six days.”
The antiviral, which is awaiting regulatory approval as a coronavirus treatment, is being used in a number of clinical trials across the globe.
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Elana Goldsmith previously told Fox News that her husband started showing coronavirus symptoms on March 11 and was diagnosed as positive on March 15. Initially sent home for self-quarantine, his condition worsened and within days, he had 104.9-degree fever. He was admitted to the hospital on March 18.
Doctors at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey intubated and ventilated the IT consultant on March 20 and attempted to obtain remdesivir from drugmaker Gilead Sciences’ “compassionate use” program.
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Goldsmith said that she doesn’t understand why the guidelines were changed.
“Michael’s doctors have been working around the clock to get this drug for him,” she said.
Goldsmith’s family and the medical community have launched a campaign to cut through the red tape and get hold of remdesivir. A "Physician’s Petition" calls on President Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act with regard to Gilead Sciences. The Defense Production Act allows the president to direct private companies to produce goods or acquire raw materials.
The petition, which has over 1,100 signatories, has reached some members of the White House staff, according to the Goldsmith family.
Fox News' James Rogers contributed to this report.
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