Three of America’s Largest Hospitals Are Refusing to Administer New Alzheimer’s Drug

Three of America’s Largest Hospitals Are Refusing to Administer New Alzheimer’s Drug

Three large hospitals are declining to administer Biogen's new Alzheimer’s treatment, Aduhelm.  This is the latest controversy tied to the drug which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month.

The drug has deep ties to Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School as top physician Steve Salloway was one of the lead researchers in the development of the drug.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting, “The Cleveland Clinic, Mount Sinai Health System in New York and Providence in Renton, Wash., said they wouldn’t administer Aduhelm, which is also called aducanumab, to patients amid a debate about the drug’s effectiveness and whether the FDA lowered its standards in approving the medicine.”

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The drug’s approval is being investigated by federal officials as Biogen officials may have improperly met with FDA officials.

“While some doctors have been eager to start prescribing the newly approved drug, others have criticized the FDA for clearing the drug before studies proved it works. The critics have also expressed concerns about whether the drug’s benefits, which appeared to be modest in studies, are worth the risks of side effects such as brain bleeding that require regular monitoring by physicians,” reporting the WSJ.

“Clinical studies failed to demonstrate the effectiveness of Aduhelm…while documenting significant risks, like brain swelling and bleeding,” said a spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, which won’t cover the drug for its commercially insured patients.