Cocktail therapy craze refuses to die down in Kolkata – Times of India

KOLKATA: Even though monoclonal antibody cocktail therapy has been removed from the mandatory Covid treatment protocol in the state, requests are still pouring in from patients keen to take it. This, they believe, will lead to a definite and early cure. Most hospitals, however, have decided to use it only on symptomatic patients with co-morbidities and the rest are being given normal Covid treatment.
Although used rampantly over the last few weeks, there is yet no “conclusive,unbiased and sustained evidence” on the effectiveness of cocktail therapy to include it in the treatment protocol, said RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) intensivist Sauren Panja. “We are using it on senior citizens who are symptomatic. It has got around 70% effectiveness, so cocktail therapy is no magic cure. More importantly, all patients don’t require it, especially those without symptoms. So, we are now following a strict policy of administering it to the 60-plus patients with symptoms,” said Panja.

The rush for the therapy was triggered by the fact it was new and promised a cure, according to Institute of PostGraduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER) professor Diptendra Sarkar. “It may not be effective against Omicron, which is a mutated strain. More importantly, it will be a waste on young patients without co-morbidities since they just don’t need it,” he said.
Hospitals had started using the therapy since it allowed them to treat patients in day care and release them, keeping bed occupancy low. Hospitals like Belle Vue Clinic and Woodlands used it on more than 50 patients each since last week and 80% of them were released in a day. will take the final call on the clinical management of any patient, including Covid, on a case-to-case basis. We have received the new protocol and will abide by it,” said Rupali Basu, managing director & CEO, Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital.
Medica Superspecialty Hospital continues to use it on senior citizens with co-morbidities. “We have had requests for it even before the new protocol removed it. But we continue to use it on those who really need it,” said chairperson Alok Roy.
At Peerless Hospital, use of cocktail therapy has been restricted. “Many patients are still insisting on it, but we are using it only on those with more than moderate symptoms,” a source said.