Opinion: Monkeypox patients should not be left to suffer when an FDA-approved drug could help
Andy couldn’t sleep more than a couple fitful hours a night because it felt like a hot fork was stabbing him in the butt. He had excruciating internal and external lesions around his anus. It was the weekend: his doctor wasn’t available, an emergency department provider told him he might have anal cancer, and an urgent care provider sent him home with Tylenol and no diagnosis.
Andy (not his real name) texted one of us. We knew he almost certainly needed to be tested for monkeypox. It took seven days for him to get a test and, when the results came back from the New York City Health Department five days later, he learned he tested positive for monkeypox. Then came the next challenge: getting Andy a prescription for tecovirimat (brand name TPOXX), an FDA-approved drug developed and stockpiled by the U.S. government that may reduce symptoms and risk of death in patients with monkeypox.
