Lauterbach wants to make it easier for the shopkeeper Paxlovid to get among the people – but is also met with suspicion

Created: 2022-08-21Updated: 2022-08-21 10:58 PM

By: Bettina Menzel

Karl Lauterbach (SPD), Federal Minister of Health, in the Federal Ministry of Health.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/Archive

280,000 packs of the corona drug Paxlovid threaten to expire in 2023.

Karl Lauterbach is now promoting more and easier administration - and is reaping headwind for it.

Berlin – In the USA, the antiviral corona drug Paxlovid is used 40,000 times a day, and US President Joe Biden also received it during his coronavirus illness.

In Germany it has only been prescribed around 30,000 times - in total.

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is of the opinion that Paxlovid is used far too little in this country.

For tips and ideas in a Sunday tweet, he reaps some headwind.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of packs of the drug are threatening to expire.

That's why Karl Lauterbach wants to use Paxlovid more often

Lauterbach recently traveled to the USA and, according to his own statements, took important knowledge with him: In order to combat mortality despite vaccination gaps, the Americans use Paxlovid in around 40,000 corona patients per day.

The best-known recipient so far was probably US President Joe Biden.

However, the 79-year-old struggled with the so-called rebound effect of Paxlovid, because he tested positive again a few days after recovering from his first corona infection.

The antiviral corona drug Paxlovid is still considered a “game changer” and is intended to protect risk patients from a serious course.

Corona drug Paxlovid prevents severe disease progression.

But there is a rare problem.

© Richard B. Levine/imago

"Paxlovid reduces corona mortality in older people by up to 90 percent," Lauterbach wrote on Twitter.

"It is used far too little," said the minister.

He therefore advised older people to take it.

"From now on, general practitioners can give the drug to the patient themselves, even without going to the pharmacy," explained the doctor.

If symptoms and quick tests are clear, the family doctor can now make the Covid diagnosis by calling.

“The courier can then bring the medication by telephone if you order it.

That can save lives,” said the minister.

This is a novelty in Germany, pharmacies normally have the monopoly on dispensing medicines.

Paxlovid discussion on Twitter: headwind for the health minister

Lauterbach himself is an epidemiologist and doctor and, according to his own statements, is usually up to date with the study situation. His recommendations are considered to be well-founded.

The Robert Koch Institute also considers the use of antiviral drugs such as Paxlovid or Remdesivir to be useful in high-risk patients or people with incomplete vaccination protection, as a suggestion for intensive care physicians when selecting antiviral therapy shows.

On Twitter, however, there were dissenting voices to Lauterbach's recommendation.

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First and foremost, doctor Friedrich Pürner spoke up, accusing the health minister of lobbying for pharmaceutical companies.

“You are advertising a drug.

It's unethical," said the doctor, receiving thousands of "likes" on Twitter.

According to his accusation, Lauterbach is a “pharmaceutical representative” and not a health minister.

Pürner himself was dismissed as head of the health department where he worked due to his unscientific statements during the corona pandemic.

At the time, he received applause from the AfD and lateral thinkers.

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But there was also factual criticism of Lauterbach's proposal on Twitter.

One user made it clear that a definition of the term "older" would be useful.

"Older" is already a 50-year-old for him and many others, the user wrote.

"It is certainly advisable to briefly present here for whom exactly the drug is usually indicated, before tomorrow the telephones of many resident practitioners will no longer stand still," the Twitter user worried about the workload of general practitioners.

From what age Lauterbach recommends the drug was not clear from the post.

A preprint study from Israel by the research group led by Ronen Arbel gives a possible indication of this.

According to the research, Paxlovid has good efficacy in patients over 65 years of age.

According to this, it reduced the risk of hospitalization due to corona disease in older people by 67 percent.

In the study, the drug reduced the likelihood of dying from Covid by 81 percent.

A study published in the medical journal British Medical Journal BMJ even came up with an 89 percent lower death rate.

Lauterbach wants to increase the number of prescriptions: hundreds of thousands of packs will expire in February 2023

Unlike in the US, Paxlovid is a slow seller in this country.

Due to low demand, there is a risk of hundreds of thousands of packs of the corona drug being destroyed in Germany.

This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Health to a parliamentary question from the CSU, as reported by the

.

According to this, 460,000 of the one million packs ordered have so far been delivered to wholesalers.

"Of these, 280,000 will reach their expiry date by February 2023," the reply said.

A possible extension of the shelf life of the drug is being examined and Karl Lauterbach is trying to increase the number of prescriptions for Paxlovid, the health ministry's response continued.

“The fact that Paxlovid doses for millions of euros are now threatening to expire shows that Karl Lauterbach has not learned anything,” said CSU health politician Stephan Pilsinger, alluding to the destruction of at least four million corona vaccine doses that has already taken place.

Before the valuable drug expires unused, "it would be better to give it away to poorer countries," the CSU politician continued

.