Hospitals across the state, including two in North Texas, will receive dozens of vials of the drug remdesivir, which has shown promise in speeding patients' recovery time from COVID-19, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas will get four cases of the drug, while John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth will receive three.
"We are pleased that Parkland, JPS and Trinity Mother Frances Health Systems received the remdesivir vials for treatment of approximately 8 cases of COVID-19," said Stephen Love, president and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. "We are disappointed that the entire state of Texas only received 1,200 vials of the medication for approximately 120 patients statewide."
In all, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent the state 30 cases of remdesivir, or enough to treat about 120 patients. The federal government's supply of the drug was donated by its maker, Gilead.
The use of the drug will be determined by doctors at each hospital and must be prescribed in accordance with FDA guidelines, according to the Texas DSHS.
Early results in clinical trials showed remdesivir reduced patients' recovery time to 11 days, versus 15 with a placebo, DSHS said. However, there was not a "significant survival benefit."
Hospitals in Amarillo, Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, McAllen, Odessa, San Antonio, Tyler and Waco received between one and six cases of remdesivir.
Tracking COVID-19 Cases in North Texas Counties
NBC 5 is tracking the number of COVID-19 related cases, recoveries and deaths in North Texas counties. Choose a county and click on a city or town to see how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting your area.
Cases are cumulative by day and are subject to change, dependent on each county health department's reporting schedule and methodology. Data may be reported county-wide, by city or town, or not at all. Cases, recoveries and death counts in 'unspecified' categories are used as placeholders and reassigned by their respective counties at a later date.
Data: County Health Departments, NBC 5 Staff
Nina Lin/NBC
