Maharashtra govt says ‘Molnupiravir’ must be used with caution to treat Covid-19 patients

The Maharashtra government on Monday issued a letter to the district, civic administrations and health departments in the state asking them to use oral anti-viral drug ‘Molnupiravir’ for treatment of symptomatic, adult COVID-19 patients with “abundant caution and in certain conditions”. Dr Pradeep Vyas, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), in the letter, requested district and civic authorities to use Molnupiravir with “abundant caution and in certain conditions and in full advised dose”.
He said this drug has received emergency use authorization (from the Drug Controller General of India) and based on the opinion of some experts it has also been included in treatment protocol circulated on January 6, 2022, in the state subject to certain conditions.
“Subsequently, certain state governments like Odisha have withdrawn this drug from the market. ICMR has also not recommended its use in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection (which causes COVID-19). Molnupiravir has not been included in the Standard Treatment Protocol released by the Government of India on January 17, 2022,” Dr Vyas said in the letter. Molnupiravir has been shown to reduce hospitalization in a clinical trial and thus has received emergency use authorization, not an FDA approval, the letter stated.
Source: CNBC