Experimentation During Covid Treatment Is Leading To Complications In Some Patients
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-07-29 10:02:02
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Is the administration of steroids on a long-term basis in the treatment of Covid causing bone degeneration in some recovered patients months after being afflicted? After coming across three such patients in the last six months, doctors and medical experts in Kolkata are veering around to the view that perhaps the steroids are causing avascular necrosis (AvN), a serious disease which happens when clots occur in small blood vessels in the bone that get blocked due to Covid, restricting or cutting off the supply of blood and oxygen to the bone. This results in degeneration of the bone which leads to complete fracture and collapse of the affected bones.
Doctors are of the opinion that the disease is not the result of Covid but is due to the steroids that were administered. Dr Mehul Jain of Belle Vue Clinic in Kolkata told The Times of India that "other than trauma, the most common reason for a femur head fracture is consistent steroid use". He added that in the recent cases of AvN, "there is yet no evidence of a direct co-relation with Covid, but steroids play a part".
This brings into focus the way Covid infection was treated in the initial days. While it is true that it was a new virus and no known, medically or clinically proven line of treatment was available with the medical fraternity, yet too many drugs were administered on experimental basis which are now leading to complications in patients. Since there were no medicines to treat coronavirus infections, doctors should have been extra careful when prescribing drugs to ensure that side effects were minimized and they did not lead to complications in future.
But sadly, too many drugs were experimented with and some are causing serious problems to Covid recovered patients now. For a time chloroquine was touted as an effective remedy until WHO bunked it. Later, ivermectin was being prescribed although WHO said there was no data to prove its efficacy. Steroids were used indiscriminately and for long periods. Unnecessary vitamins and supplements were also prescribed. Dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, was prescribed for even patients with mild symptoms although WHO warned against it. The pandemic has been a learning curve for the medical fraternity but the complication being witnessed in some patients should teach them the fact that indiscriminate trial and error methods are not fair and should be avoided.
