Cutting-Edge COVID-19 Care For Trump, Not Available For Regular Folks

Fewer than ten people have received this intervention outside of clinical trials, Alexandra Bowie, a spokesperson for Regeneron wrote to NPR in an email. "The only way to access the drug at this point is through a Compassionate Use request or clinical trial participation," she adds, and compassionate use requests are only approved in rare and exceptional circumstances.

"And we still do not know if they are effective," notes Schaffner, as the drug is still being studied in a clinical trial. "That was kind of a chance they took."

The President and his physicians have maintained that his symptoms were mild and he was generally healthy during his hospital stay. But both remdesivir and dexamethasone are usually only given to patients who are severely ill with COVID-19 and often later in the course of their illness.

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