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Comment by stordoff | Hacker News Reader

Is the same not true for dexamethasone[1], which was the first successful finding from the RECOVERY trial[2]? That's how I've repeatedly seen it described[3] (FWIW, I was treated with dexamethasone for Covid-19 in October 2020).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexamethasone

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RECOVERY_Trial

[3] "A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives[...]" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53061281

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The same is NOT true for dexamethasone, well not exactly, since there was no directly competing drug. Dexamethasone, which you can probably confirm, is useful in the later stages of COVID where there's an inflammatory response. Since no other proposed medications were seeking an EUA as a "late stage" therapeutic, there's no chance the already approved Dexamethasone would have blocked the issuance of an EUA.

That's at least my understanding based on the proposed systemic problem in FDAs.

Conversely, in this proposed problem, it's said that ivermectin (and others) are only effective when used in the early stage or even prophylactic. Being already fully licensed medications, that could put the issuance of an EUA for vaccines or Remdesivir in jeopardy.

> Being already fully licensed medications, that could put the issuance of an EUA for vaccines or Remdesivir in jeopardy.

Remdesevir is fully approved in the US.

One could argue there's money to be lost if it displaces vaccines as a method of treatment (assuming it's affects are as lasting)

Vaccines are not a method of treatment.

Okay, will prevention do? But I'm sure you (and everyone else) knew what I meant

Yes and the UK discovered its benefit. The US has done nothing to investigate whether generic drugs will treat COVID19. The research is being conducted in the UK and EU where the financial incentives are different.

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