LINCOLN - The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said last week it is getting more shipments of the drug remdesivir, used to treat some hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The state received new shipments of the drug and distributed them to Nebraska hospitals, based on the numbers of COVID-19 patients they had had in the previous two weeks, the department said. The advisory, from state epidemiologist Dr. Tom Safranek and state public health director Dr. Gary Anthone, gave recommendations on use of the drug based on patient criteria. One of those recommendations, that patients have "reasonable functional status," has been questioned by Disability Rights Nebraska CEO Eric Evans. In a letter to the department, he asked if that recommendation would exclude people with significant disabilities, such as those who need help performing basic tasks during the day.

A study by Gilead, the company that developed the drug, produced new data Monday that showed it helped patients with “moderate” disease recover more quickly when they received it for five days. It added to evidence the medicine is at least a somewhat effective treatment for the virus. But it's still unknown how effective, and in what patients.

Last month, Bryan Health began treating COVID-19 patients with remdesivir. The hospital system received an allocation of 30 vials of the antiviral medication May 15. The week before, Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the state had received 400 vials of the drug and received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration but not the agency's full approval, in part because of its promising early results.

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