When COVID-19 first hit the US, I was surprised and happy to see the corporate news stories about the use of high-dose intravenous vitamin C as a treatment. But it soon became clear that NIH and CDC officials were more interested in finding pharmaceutical answers. The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has given over $2 billion to vaccine manufacturers¹; and remdesivir, Gilead Science’s drug that has a moderate benefit for coronavirus patients, might cost around $1000 per patient.²

Fortunately, doctors on the frontlines, are more interested in saving patients than in Pharma’s profits. Some, like a US-based team of critical-care doctors, have prevented death in hospitalized patients with an early intervention protocol that uses inexpensive drugs and nutrients, including vitamin C.³ Others, like China’s Dr. Richard Cheng, are having success with high-dose intravenous vitamin C.⁴

In his April 2018 editorial, Alan Gaby, MD, wrote about US FDA approval of Endari™ for the treatment of sickle cell disease, based on two double-blind studies.⁵ The drug costs insurance companies $28,000 a year. Endari is simply L-glutamine, an amino acid. Glutamine treatment for sickle cell disease costs $1400 a year. “We need to find ways to encourage and support research into natural substance without unnecessarily raising the cost of health care,” Gaby writes.

China is now conducting several studies on the use of high-dose vitamin C for COVID-19; and Japan has an educational video on using vitamin C and other nutrients to protect against the virus.⁴ Meanwhile, the FDA, Federal Trade Commission, and state attorneys are sending out warning letters to US practitioners who have given out information about nutrients that support immune health and, thereby, protect against coronavirus.⁶

In their review article, Simmons and Smith write, “In spite of the overwhelming evidence of the efficacy of an intravenous vitamin C protocol against coronavirus, the FDA, the CDC, and many respected members of the medical community inexplicably jeopardize their own credibility, apparently, to save the irrelevant business model of the pharmaceutical industry. The respect will be hard to win back. And that is right and proper.”⁴

And it’s past time.

1. Merelli A. The US just bought 400 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine that may never exist. May 21, 2020. https://qz.com/1858682/the-us-just-bought-400-million-doses-of-a-coronavirus-vaccine-that-may-never-exist/
2. Garde D, Silverman E. Less than a movie ticket or ‘impossible to overpay’? Experts name their price for remdesivir. May 15, 2020. https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/15/gilead-remdesivir-pricing-coronavirus/
3. Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Working Group. https://covid19criticalcare.com/
4. Simmons WF, Smith RG. Vitamin C and Coronavirus: Not a Vaccine, Just a Humble Cure. https://www.townsendletter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Vit-C-Coronavirus-Humble-Cure-References-1.pdf
5. Gaby AR. Glutamine and Sickle Cell Disease: Another Example of Why Healthcare Is So Expensive. Townsend Letter. April 2018;96+.
6. Alliance for Natural Health. Doctors Gagged as Feds Launch Censorship Campaign. May 28, 2020.

Jule Klotter