Pfizer antiviral pill could be risky with other widely used medications

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized two antiviral pills, one from Pfizer and one from Merck, making them the first at-home treatment for COVID-19 that has been touted as a game changer in the fight against the pandemic.

However, experts told NBC News that the pills will require careful monitoring by doctors and pharmacists. 

While Pfizer's Paxlovid has been authorized for use in children 12 and over with underlying health conditions including heart disease or diabetes, a component of the antiviral cocktail could have serious and life- threatening interactions with drugs including blood thinners, statins and depressants, NBC reported.

"Some of these potential interactions are not trivial, and some pairings have to be avoided altogether,” Peter Anderson, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Colorado told NBC News.

“Some are probably easily managed. But some we’re going to have to be very careful about,” he added.

In a statement to The Hill, a Pfizer spokesperson said, "The potential for drug-drug interactions (DDI) for Paxlovid was examined in a series of in vitro studies, as well as clinical DDI studies."