Is Remdesivir Safe ?

Remdesivir works by interrupting production of the virus. Coronaviruses have genomes made up ribonucleic acid (RNA). Remdesivir interferes with one of the key enzymes the virus needs to replicate RNA. This prevents the virus from multiplying

Researchers began a randomized, controlled trial of the antiviral in February 2020 to test whether remdesivir could be used to treat SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

NIH : Final report confirms remdesivir benefits for COVID-19

By April, early results indicated that remdesivir accelerated recovery for hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. It became the first drug to receive emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat people hospitalized with COVID-19.

Researchers have now completed the trial, known as the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT-1). The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The final report appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine on October 8, 2020.

I personally do not agree with this approval. Because it was fast-tracked clinical studies were not robust – to say the least. The other three drugs currently approved to treat Covid are

Bamlanivimab
Casirivimab
Sotrovimab

“Researchers tested remdesivir in clinical trials during the Ebola outbreak. Other investigational medications worked better, but it was shown to be safe for patients” – say what ?

and how do you know that it’s safe ?

“Researchers tested remdesivir in clinical trials during the Ebola outbreak. Other investigational medications worked better, but it was shown to be safe for patients“

OK then lets look at the remdesivir ebola study

“Overall, about 50% of people who received either Zmapp or remdesivir died during the trial. In contrast, only about 35% of people who received either Mab114 or REGN-EB3 died. Three participants died of side effects thought to be related to treatment—two in the ZMapp group and one in the remdesivir group.” – NIH: Two drugs reduce risk of death from Ebola

how can the FDA come to the conclusion Remdesivir is safe when its group had the highest number of deaths ?

Remdesivir also improved mortality rates for those receiving supplemental oxygen (4% with remdesivir versus 13% with placebo at day 29 of treatment). All-cause mortality among all patients was 11% with remdesivir and 15% with placebo at day 29, but this difference between the treatment groups was not large enough to rule out chance. The preliminary findings hadn’t shown an effect on mortality. The study also suggested that remdesivir treatment may prevent patients from progressing to more severe respiratory disease. Those treated with remdesivir were less likely to need high levels of respiratory support. Remdesivir appeared to most benefit patients who were receiving supplemental oxygen.

“Our findings show that remdesivir is a beneficial treatment for patients with COVID-19,” says study author Dr. John Beigel of NIAID. “It may also help to conserve scarce health care resources, such as ventilators, during this pandemic.”

so it’s all about conserving health care resources ? remember when the Trudeau government used CBC News to discourage healthy people from wearing masks ? at first it was “only N95 masks work” and “if you’re healthy don’t wear them” . When they wanted people to wear masks they changed their tune to ‘all masks provide some level of protection, earlier in the pandemic, masks were in short supply so we needed to discourage people from buying them.’

so remdesivir

does not improve the overall fatality rate
improves fatality rate for people (who make it to) respirators
had the highest fatality rate of drugs tested on ebola
was not even approved for use against the two viruses it was originally designed to treat : hepatitis C and a cold-like virus called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

2 thoughts on “Is Remdesivir Safe ?”

Attorney Brad Geyer has started a Remdisivie Support Group. LibertsLastStand is his Ytube channel where he has now posted several of his one on one interviews, with loved ones telling their hospital care story, each case included use of Remdisivir. Brad explains during each interview the mission of his work, it’s still unfolding. Please contact him, to share your story too. He is a well respected attorney with offices in NJ and DC. A dear friend of mine is part of this group. She tells how supportive they are for each other, doing Zoom calls on occasion.