The Texas Health and Human Services made monoclonal antibody treatments available this year to COVID patients following Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — unless of course those patients are white.
Infowars’ American Journal host Harrison Smith, who recently tested positive for COVID, reported Saturday that he was denied monoclonal antibody treatment during a medical visit because he was white.
Denied medical service because of my race. pic.twitter.com/FgtO3oiSPG
— Harrison Hill Smith (@Harrison_of_TX) November 13, 2021
His reporting was corroborated by independent journalist Dave Reilly, who recorded a phone conversation with a State Infusion Hotline representative confirming only “high-risk ethnicities” are qualified to receive treatment, as well as those with underlying medical issues or who are above 65 years old.
“There’s eligibility criterias [sic] that we go by, and, uh, African American and Hispanic are high-risk ethnicity groups, so that would be a qualifier,” the rep said.
— Dave Reilly (@realDaveReilly) November 13, 2021
Reilly asked: “So if you’re a healthy in-shape Caucasian and you show up, you’re not going to get an infusion?”
“Based on the criteria we go by now, that is correct,” the rep said.
One Twitter user claimed Smith was simply denied because he was healthy, not white, but Smith noted that a healthy COVID-positive black or Hispanic person would still have been able to receive treatment.
A perfectly healthy black person my age, weight and height would have gotten treatment.
— Harrison Hill Smith (@Harrison_of_TX) November 13, 2021
A memo released by the Texas HHS makes no mention of “high-risk ethnicities” being an automatic qualifier in its memo announcing the availability of monoclonal antibody treatments.
So who decided that only certain races are automatically qualified for monoclonal antibody treatment against COVID, and when?
Read the Texas HHS document: