Doctor treating COVID-19 patients gambles on clot-busting drug
[Yahoo] The woman was dying. Workers at New York’s Mt. Sinai Hospital were about to call her husband and break the news that there was nothing left to try. Then Dr. Hooman Poortook a gamble.
With high-stress, high-stakes decisions, doctors around the world are frantically trying to figure out how COVID-19 is killing their patients so they can attempt new ways to fight back. One growing theory: In the sickest of the sick, little blood clots clog the lungs.
Poor couldn’t prove it. The tests required would further endanger his staff, who were already at risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. But the lung specialist saw clues that were "screaming blood clots." So Poor pulled out a drug best known for treating strokes, and he held his breath.
Posted by: gorb 2020-04-12 |