COVID Antiviral Pills Cause Life-Threatening Reactions When Used With Many Common Meds: FDA

Pfizer's antiviral oral drug developed to treat COVID-19 can cause severe or life-threatening effects when used with common medications including some anti-coagulants, some anti-depressants, and some cholesterol-lowering statins, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA does not recommend Paxlovid for those with severe kidney or liver disease.

The FDA on Dec. 22 granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment pill as treatment for mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 in patients from 12 years of age.

Paxlovid was the first oral medication of its kind authorized by the FDA to treat COVID-19, with the aim of reducing the need for hospitalization before patients become too ill from the infection.

"This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19," stated Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Paxlovid consists of a cocktail of two drugs, the first being nirmatrelvir, which stops the SARS-CoV-2 virus from replicating, while the second component acts to prolong the duration of nirmatrelvir.

Earlier in November, the Biden administration had already purchased some 10 million courses of the drug in a more than $5 billion agreement.

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