Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will fight the "reckless decision" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revoke emergency authorization of two monoclonal antibody treatments.
The FDA's announcement late Monday meant Florida had to immediately shut down monoclonal antibody treatment sites across the state.
Speaking at a news conference in Crawfordville on Tuesday, DeSantis said he will fight the decision after the FDA said the drugs — from Regeneron and Eli Lilly — did not work against the omicron variant.
"We're gonna fight back against this because this is just wrong," DeSantis said. "This is not the way that you help people. And our view is, people have the right to access these treatments, and to revoke it on this basis, it's just fundamentally wrong, and we're going to fight back."
After the FDA announced it revoked the emergency use authorization, the sites administering the treatments were closed, and those who had already made appointments were told they were being canceled, the Florida Department of Health said in a release.
DeSantis, along with state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, have said the treatments should be easily accessible for people who get infected with other variants.
While DeSantis said the treatments are "not 100%," he said they should still be made available.
"You don't even know when someone goes in, whether it's omicron or still the delta," DeSantis said. "Yes, mostly in Florida it's going to be omicron at this point. But it's really a reckless decision to be able to take this option away from patients."
The drugs had become a centerpiece of DeSantis’ coronavirus response as he resisted vaccine mandates and other safety measures.
DeSantis did say how he plans to oppose to the FDA decision.
Health News Florida producer Rick Mayer and information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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