Mayor Price says she recovered with new COVID treatment. Here’s how others could too.
For two days, Mayor Betsy Price had a high fever, slight cough and aches and pains consistent with a bad case of the flu, as she described during a news conference this week.
Her physician, Price said, told her she would be a good candidate for a new antibody infusion treatment, bamlanivimab. The Federal Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 9 authorized emergency use of the Eli Lilly and Company treatment in individuals with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms who have a higher risk of progressing to more severe symptoms or hospitalization.
In Texas, the coronavirus treatment has only recently become available, after an initial shipment went out on Nov. 15 to acute care facilities across every geographic region of the state. Price’s physician referred her for the treatment, her office said in an email, and Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Fort Worth determined she met the criteria. She got the treatment through an IV on Nov. 18, her office said.
She said during the news conference she was the third person in North Texas to get the antibody infusion.
“It’s an incredible treatment,” Price said. “Within a few hours, I felt a whole lot better.”
The news of her treatment and quick recovery this week was met online with some messages of support for the 71-year-old mayor, who said she fell into the high-risk category required for administering bamlanivimab because she’s over the age of 65.
For others, frustrated about those who may have become gravely ill or died from the coronavirus without the benefit of the emerging treatment, it raised questions of privilege in health care.
“Glad she’s getting the newest treatment. Gotta love Texas Healthcare,” reads the top comment underneath a Facebook post from KXAS-TV sharing a story on her recovery.
Several of the more than 300 commenters evoked the word privilege, wondering if there are people who haven’t been able to procure the scarcely available drug, as some fired back to say the public should be grateful Price is in good health. One man posed the question: “How is the average Joe/Jane supposed to get it if we are being advised not to go to hospital until we are beyond this early stage?”
The debate reflects a larger discussion playing out about who in society can get the best treatment, in a time when the hospitalization rate for COVID-19 patients in Tarrant County is higher than it’s ever been and more than 840 county residents have so far died of the virus. Almost half those deaths were in Fort Worth.
In response to questions sent by the Star-Telegram, Price’s office said, “The timing of her diagnosis happened to coincide with the treatment becoming available in Fort Worth. Baylor Scott & White did not know Mayor Price was the patient being referred when the physician prescribed the treatment.” Price also said in a statement she believes the treatment should be approved not only for emergency use but also for therapeutic use.
“Thankfully, the treatment is now available in North Texas and we anticipate it to increase in availability in the coming months,” Price said. “If you qualify for the treatment, I encourage you get it.”
Baylor Scott & White said in a statement the hospital received “a limited amount” of bamlanivimab after the Texas Department of Health and Human Services allocated shipments across the state. Julie Smith, a Baylor Scott & White spokesperson, said over the phone she believes the hospital has only received its initial batch. She noted the total number of treatments in that shipment would need to come from a state agency like HHS.
An HHS spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday the information can only come from the Texas Department of State Health Services, which didn’t respond to a request for comment by deadline.
Smith on Wednesday wasn’t immediately able to say if the hospital knew the mayor’s identity when the treatment was approved, though she noted the direct physician would at least need to know it. The hospital is only legally allowed to prescribe the treatment under the current FDA standards, Smith said. Price qualified due to her age.
There are several other groups that could qualify, per the FDA protocol, including those who have chronic ailments like kidney disease or diabetes, or have a body mass index of 35 or greater. Younger people, between the ages of 12 and 17, can get bamlinivimab if they are in at least the 85th percentile of body mass index for their age or if they have conditions like asthma, heart disease or sickle cell disease.
“It’s not really up to us,” Smith said over the phone on Wednesday. “We have to administer it as those who meet the checklist.”
She emphasized Baylor Scott & White is offering the treatment both in its limited quantity for patients and in trials to demonstrate the level of its effectiveness, where some of the treatments are placebos. Price, Smith said, was in the limited quantity group.
Smith acknowledged she can understand the emotional responses from some community members, upset about the appearance of a politician getting any sort of preferential treatment.
The main message she wanted to get across, she said, is that ordinary citizens, like the mayor, can have access to the new treatment — if they apply for it.
“When, sometimes, prominent people are affected by cancer or other things, it’s sometimes an opportunity — unfortunate — that people can learn what would happen if they were in those shoes,” Smith said. “I completely understand the commenters of the world. I would want to know too.”
How people can qualify for bamlanivimab treatment
Anyone who believes they have COVID and is interested in the bamlanivimab treatment, or any other service Baylor Scott & White offers, needs to start with an online screening, the hospital said in a statement. The hospital reports it has screened more than 330,000 people for the virus since March.
People can begin this process by going to the facility’s website at MyBSWHealth.com or the MyBSWHealth app, which can be downloaded by texting BETTER to 88408, according to the statement.
Smith said the website and app have allowed people to be screened and tested without ever having to report to a hospital and possibly expose more people. Some people may be directed to a drive-through specimen collection site, and results will be confidentially delivered.
A provider can meet with individuals over a video call to talk about what, if anything, comes next, Smith said. The hospital, she said, also can implement its “COVID-19 home monitoring” for qualified individuals, in which personnel will check in with the patient twice a day to keep tabs on their progress.
Through this process, Smith said, people who fall into the high-risk category for bamlanivimab can request and, if approved, receive the treatment.
