In a letter addressed to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, Ladapo blamed the former for making an "artificial shortage" of potential COVID treatments by allowing a "dramatic reduction in the number of monoclonal antibodies to be allocated to the State of Florida."
The HHS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have halted the distribution of Regeneron and Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibodies, which have proven to be an effective treatment against COVID-19.
The federal government is now only distributing GlaxoSmithKline's Sotrovimab monoclonal antibody treatment. The agencies claimed that Glaxosmithkline's monoclonal antibody treatment is more effective against the cold-like omicron variant compared to the Regeneron and Eli Lilly's products.
Ladapo noted that the federal government should not "limit our state's access to any available treatment for COVID-19" regardless of its effectiveness against particular variants.
"Florida can expand treatment options for patients by distributing therapeutics to providers working in areas with a low prevalence of omicron or clinics capable of variant screening," Ladapo wrote.
Federal government blocks monoclonal antibody treatments
Ladapo said that the federal government has not simply blocked the distribution of certain monoclonal antibody treatments, but has been "actively preventing the effective distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments in the United States."
"The sudden suspension of multiple monoclonal antibody therapy treatments from distribution to Florida removes a health care provider's ability to the best treatment options for their patients in this state," Ladapo said. "This shortsightedness is especially evident given that the federal government effectively prohibited states from purchasing these monoclonal antibodies and serving their populations directly."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed Ladapo in September, has clashed with the Biden administration throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
DeSantis has given priority to early and alternative treatments like monoclonal antibodies, while the Biden administration has put its hopes in the COVID-19 vaccines – which have caused severe adverse effects and exhibited waning effectiveness after a few months. (Related: STUDY: Early treatment with proven natural remedies defeats Covid.)
A spokesperson from the HHS contradicted Ladapo's claims.
"With regard to monoclonal antibody treatments, the federal government has allocated about 22,000 doses in just the past two weeks (11,050 doses last week and 10,576 doses this week)," the HHS spokesperson said. "That’s in addition to the approximately 28,000 doses of product that they have on hand from their previous orders."
The HHS stopped distributing antibody treatments made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly last week. ??It later revised the order, saying the stoppage would only apply to states where omicron made up at least 80 percent of COVID-19 cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that omicron ?is responsible for 59 percent of all COVID cases in the United States. That estimate rises to 78 percent in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
No Sotrovimab allocation for Florida
?GlaxoSmithKline's Sotrovimab is said to be more effective against omicron and the federal government continues to distribute it. ?But Ladapo said none of it has been appropriated to Florida, forcing the state to buy its own supply.
"Lack of allocation of this life-saving treatment from the federal government continues to cause another immediate and life-threatening shortage of treatment options … as the omicron variant spreads throughout the state," Ladapo said. "The federal agencies should not limit our state's access to any available treatments for COVID-19."
Ladapo ended his letter with a request. "As surgeon general, I respectfully request that you allow states and healthcare practitioners to provide treatment options that best benefit the communities they serve," he wrote.
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