CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — As President Donald Trump recovers from COVID-19, people may wonder if the treatments, or type of care, he received are available right here in the Coastal Bend.
President Trump’s therapies are similar to those available to most other hospitalized COVID-19 patients with two exceptions.
The Monoclonal treatment trial at Crossroads Clinical Research is a lab created antibody treatment which is similar to convalescent plasma only you are getting more antibodies from this treatment.
"Between what we've seen anecdotally ourselves, and the data that has been released through the pharmaceutical companies that are doing the research, we are seeing tremendously good results,” said Site Director at Crossroads Clinical Research Jerry Plemons
Dr. Kim Onufrak explains other treatments such as remdesivir, the only recommended medication treatment for COVID-19 and Dexamethasone which is only given to someone who needs oxygen.
"What remdesivir is it's an anti-viral drug so it helps inhibit the replication of the virus,” said Clinical Director & Health Authority Dr. Kim Onufrak. "Dexamethasone is also one of the recommended drugs but again its only recommended if you meet criteria,” said Dr. Onufrak.
The first patient to go through the Monoclonal treatment in Corpus Christi, John Warren, says the treatment was easy. It was the fear of having the virus that was difficult for him. "It started to come around and I mean I would say within ten days I had some very mild symptoms. I feel great. I have no issues at all right now,” said Warren.
The second patient Jason Ball says when he went to crossroads clinical research, he tested positive for COVID-19. On the same day, he got a transfusion and by the fourth day, it was a blessing. “I mean you know you get that disease you don't know what to do you don't know how far it's going to progress. You got people depending on you and it's wild you know,” said Ball.
"The patients who received the antibody cocktail from us got the same compound that the President got,” said Plemons.
So far, Crossroads Clinical Research Monoclonal treatments have been going on for two months and 23 patients have ended or completed the trials. You don’t have to pay for the treatment and trials are extended through the end of the year.
For more information on the Monoclonal treatment, CLICK HERE.