As a nurse with Lupus, Alicia Bligen is not only concerned about catching COVID-19, she's also worried about a shortage of hydroxychloroquine, a medicine she takes daily to function.
It’s a trying time to be a healthcare worker in America. But for Alicia Bligen, a nurse with lupus who works in a cardiac intensive care unit in New Jersey, it’s uniquely perilous. In a state with more than 13,000 cases of the coronavirus, Bligen has two separate but equal concerns — and both revolve around supplies.
Still, in the absence of more evidence, doctors in the United States, Italy and France have all begun prescribing the medicine for patients with COVID-19, putting the more than five million people living with lupus worldwide, many of whom rely on the drug, at risk. Shortages of HCQ are already being reported in states nationwide. One woman in Florida told Bay News 9 she’s called six pharmacies so far and hasn’t been able to track the medicine down. Another in California told NBC News she was informed that it’s “back-ordered everywhere.” On its website, the Lupus Foundation of America posted a letter calling on state pharmacy boards to protect the diminishing supply.
Even more urgently, she hopes that the supplies she needs to protect herself against COVID-19 will not run out. As of now, she says staff in her hospital are only given supplies when a suspected COVID-19 patient is present, but that doesn’t feel like enough. “Right now that’s my biggest concern. It's a concern with all medical personnel,” says Bligen. “You know, we go in to help people. That's the profession in which we chose, but we also need to be protected ourselves.
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