Texas Nursing Home Residents with COVID-19 Treated with Hydroxychloroquine Drug
After testing positive for COVID-19, twenty-seven residents in a Texas nursing home are being treated with hydroxychloroquine—a drug used to treat malaria, lupus, and other auto-immune conditions. Although the drug has been approved by the federal government for use on an emergency basis in some COVID-19 cases and with some positive indications, there are medical experts urging caution because it has not been scientifically evaluated for that specific use.
The nursing home where it is being prescribed recently had more than 80 residents and workers test positive for the Coronavirus. The medical director of the nursing home told news media that he was very familiar with the medication, including its risks and benefits. He stated he wanted to try something proactive because the mortality rate is so much higher among elderly Coronavirus patients. He said he wanted to “treat folks like I would my mom.”
Notably, Texas is not the only state where hydroxychloroquine is being given to COVID-19 patients. New York’s governor has also allowed hospitals to use the treatment.
President Trump has expressed his support for using hydroxychloroquine with individual physician’s approval, but senior medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, continues to urge caution, asserting that the drug needs to be rigorously studied for this application.
Compliance Perspective
Allowing the facility’s medical director to prescribe medications to treat residents with COVID-19 that have not been approved specifically for that use by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), i.e., hydroxychloroquine, could result in wrongful death lawsuits being filed against the facility by families or persons designated as the responsible party of residents in cases where the resident does not survive.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures regarding securing formalized documents of approval by residents or their responsible parties for using any medication outside of its FDA approved application in their treatments.
- Train staff regarding careful documentation of residents’ treatment and recording of any changes in condition when being treated with medications not specifically approved for their illness.
- Periodically audit to determine what residents, if any, are receiving medications for conditions outside its FDA approved use and if there are signed documents approving of that use by the resident or their responsible party.
