Committee to oversee Tocilizumab distribution constituted by Telangana

Hyderabad: The State government on Friday constituted a committee of experts to oversee the allocation of Tocilizumab drug to Covid positive patients undergoing treatment at government and private hospitals across Telangana. The three-member committee includes Director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Dr.K Manohar, Director of Medical Education (DME), Dr.Ramesh Reddy and Director of […]

Hyderabad: The State government on Friday constituted a committee of experts to oversee the allocation of Tocilizumab drug to Covid positive patients undergoing treatment at government and private hospitals across Telangana.

The three-member committee includes Director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Dr.K Manohar, Director of Medical Education (DME), Dr.Ramesh Reddy and Director of Public Health and Family Welfare (DPH). Dr.G Srinivasa Rao.

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The DME will receive the request for Tocilizumab from the hospitals and place it before the committee. The patient-wise request from hospitals should have a detailed recommendation from a team of three specialist doctors from the hospital after the assessment of patient’s condition.

The committee will allocate the drug after satisfying that the patient does not have any active bacterial, fungal or TB infection, not improving despite steroids, significantly raised inflammatory markers like IL-6 and presence of severe disease, preferably within 24 to 48 hours of onset of severe disease or ICU admission.

Tocilizumab is a monoclonal antibody that is known to inhibit IL-6, which in-turn is linked to inducing cytokine storm and subsequent death of Covid-19 patients. Like Remdesivir, Tocilizumab also had received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) off-label permission to be utilised for Covid patients by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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