Health
TechCrunch
FDA now allows treatment of life-threatening COVID-19 cases using blood from patients who have recovered
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated its rules around use of experimental treatments for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to include use of “convalescent plasma,” in cases where the patient’s life is seriously or immediately threatened. This isn’t an approval of the procedure as a certified treatment, but rather an emergency clearance that applies only on a case-by-case basis, and only in extreme cases, as a means of helping further research being done into the possible efficacy of plasma collected from patients who have already contracted, and subsequently recovered from, a case of COVID-19. Plasma is a component of human blood — specifically the liquid part — which contains, among other things, antibodies that contribute to a body’s immune response.
