LONDON - Overwhelmed British National Health Service (NHS) hospitals are to begin treating critically ill Covid-19 patients with an arthritis drug that new research suggests may reduce the time they spend in intensive care by up to ten days.
Tocilizumab, a drug normally prescribed for severe rheumatoid arthritis, has also been found to cut the risk of death in the most serious coronavirus cases by 24%.
The Times reports that “updated guidance will be issued to NHS hospitals today encouraging them to use Tocilizumab in their treatment of Covid-19 patients”, after Boris Johnson last night announced that the plan had been given NHS approval.
