Two drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could help to save the lives of one in 12 intensive care patients with severe Covid, researchers have found. Another arthritis drug, sarilumab, appears to do the same, not only saving lives but cutting the length of time patients spent in intensive care. However, Gordon said the therapies were still cost-effective given the lives they would save and the impact on time spent in intensive care. “A day in the intensive care unit can cost close to £2,000 a day,” he said. The deputy chief medical officer for England, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, said: “This is a significant step forward for increasing survival of patients in intensive care with Covid-19.

Source: The Guardian January 07, 2021 16:01 UTC