FDA closes monoclonal antibody clinics in Florida, DeSantis seeks reversal

Monoclonal antibody sites throughout Florida will be closed after the Food and Drug Administration adjusted its authorization for the COVID-19 treatment.

The new FDA policy only allows those "likely to have been infected with or exposed to a variant that is susceptible to these treatments" to receive the new medication, despite Florida's leadership advocating for its use among the populace.

"This indefensible edict takes treatment out of the hands of medical professionals and will cost some Americans their lives," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a Monday statement. "There are real-world implications to Biden's medical authoritarianism — Americans' access to treatments is now subject to the whims of a failing president."

DeSantis claimed in a Tuesday tweet that the Biden administration revoked the authorization "without a shred of clinical evidence."
The FDA said that its reversal of the treatment's authorization is because the treatments are "highly unlikely to be active against the omicron variant," which was considered the dominant strain at one point.

"Florida disagrees with the decision that blocks access to any available treatments in the absence of clinical evidence," the state health department said in a press release.