HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — You may have heard the story of a 38-year-old Michigan man saying Detroit-area doctors saved his life using a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin saving his life.
After 38-year-old Jim Santilli told the conservative radio host Steve Gruber he’d been hospitalized at a Henry Ford Health System in suburban Detroit with COVID-19 and received the two drugs, our station asked to verify the information.
Henry Ford Health System spokesman Dave Olejarz told WHTC via email “no specific details about individual patients” would be disclosed, out of concern — and federal law regulating — patient privacy.
“Currently, there are no FDA approved therapies to treat COVID-19,” Olejarz wrote. “We are prescribing hydroxychloroquine off-label for only hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients who meet specific criteria as outlined by our Division of Infectious Diseases.”
He added, “As required by the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, we are documenting our prescribed use in the patient’s electronic medical record.”
Asked to clarify what the guidelines are, Olejarz said HFHS officials would not be releasing any more information related to this story.
HFHS officials announced last week a partnership with three other metro Detroit hospital systems (Ascension Michigan, Beaumont, and Detroit Medical Center) and Wayne State University on a joint study, with
- Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine: The company’s chief executive officer said Moderna may provide the vaccine to a few people, which could include healthcare workers, as early as this fall. A healthy volunteer received the first COVID-19 vaccine March 16. The company estimates it could take 18 months to make it commercially available, if the trials prove successful.
- Takeda’s hyperimmune globulin: Using plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19, the company is evaluating a treatment that’s effective on other severe acute viral respiratory infections
The announcement made no mention of testing hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin.
