FLORIDA, USA — Florida Surgeon General Anthony Ladapo is accusing the federal government of interfering with the state's ability to acquire monoclonal antibody treatments.
In a letter sent to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, Ladapo says the government is "preventing" the treatment from being distributed across the country, and suspended monoclonal antibody treatments from reaching the state.
Florida, like much of the nation, is once again seeing a historic surge in COVID-19 cases. The soaring number of people getting infected comes as the state tries to deal with the more transmissible omicron variant.
"The lack of allocation of this life-saving treatment from the federal government continues to cause another immediate and life-threatening shortage of treatment options to the State of Florida as the Omicron variant spreads throughout the state," Ladapo wrote in his letter.
It's not the first time Florida has complained about the federal government's control over monoclonal antibody treatments.
In September, the Biden administration announced it would be taking over the distribution of the antibody therapy after federal and state officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, began promoting its use.
DeSantis would even go to tour the state, opening up monoclonal antibody treatment sites across Florida, including here in the Tampa Bay area.
In response to the Ladapo's letter, HHS says it has not stopped shipping COVID "therapeutics" to Florida, adding that over the last month, the state received around 50,000 doses of monoclonal antibody treatments.
"In other words, Florida should have strong supply of product on hand – and more than most other states," HHS said in a statement.
"We will continue to work with Florida to supply them with federal resources to support the on-the-ground response, and we would encourage leaders to continue their efforts to increase vaccinations, which can prevent infection in the first place, are much less costly than these treatments, and are the best tool available to protect Americans."
Health experts say monoclonal antibody treatments are effective in easing COVID-19 symptoms but are most effective within the first few days of diagnosis.
The therapy can be administered either through an IV or injection to people who have tested positive for COVID-19 as well as higher-risk people and people who have been exposed to the virus, as a preventative measure.
However, Regeneron, a prominent manufacturer of monoclonal antibodies, said their antibodies "have diminished potency against omicron." That's because the company said the variant contains dozens of mutations that make it harder for antibodies to attack the virus.
Another antibody from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline appears to be the best positioned to fight omicron. But Glaxo's drug is not widely available in the U.S., accounting for a small portion of the millions of doses purchased and distributed by the federal government. U.S. health officials are now rationing scarce drug supplies to states.