Group of Oklahoma doctors warn against dangerous COVID treatment

TULSA, Okla. — A group of doctors within the Oklahoma State Medical Association is urging patients to turn down certain treatments being given for a COVID infection from some outpatient and urgent care clinics.

The Healthy Oklahoma Coalition held a news briefing Tuesday afternoon to discuss what has been a dangerous and at-times deadly outcomes from people getting treatment for COVID-19 with steroids and antibiotics.

“I have turned around and told members of my own staff to tell their loved ones who have been prescribed steroids and antibiotics for COVID to refuse that treatment,” OU Health Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler.

Bratzler said new data shows certain doctors are now prescribing steroids and antibiotics at some outpatient clinics though there is no scientific evidence to show it is effective. In fact, Bratzler said the opposite was happening, the treatment is weakening the immune system causing the infection to worsen.

“We are really going to work to contact the providers in our state about the appropriate management of these patients because I am convinced we’ve seen a number of patients who have died because of inappropriate early treatment when antiviral treatment was clearly indicated,” Bratzler said.

Dr. Jean Hausheer noted in the media discussion with Bratzler, it’s not clear where the steroid-antibiotic combination came from.

“We don’t even offer steroids and antibiotics in most cases for the flu, so it’s not clear why anyone coming in for either COVID or the flu is now getting this treatment,” she said.

Outpatient and urgent care clinics have been slammed recently with numerous patients across the state and nationwide as COVID, influenza, and RSV have hit at the same time. It was guessed by the doctors and some national publications that the treatment combination may have started to pop up as a way to quickly treat ill patients because the clinics were inundated by sick people, however, most if not all clinics have the ability to determine if someone had COVID or the flu with the simple test.

Bratzler said when someone gets a steroid-antibiotic mixture as early COVID treatment, the immune system is actually going to be weakened with these treatments, and the virus had actually gotten worse in the weakened patients, at times, leading to death. Antivirals and other treatments proven to fight against COVID, he said, are administered too late if someone is in the hospital for a COVID infection that has gotten worse.

You have the right to refuse this treatment, Bratzler said.

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