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While US President Donald Trump praises experimental drugs for his quick COVID-19 recovery, Dr Alverston Bailey says using an experimental drug in Jamaica should never be entertained.

President Trump says an experimental drug called Regeneron (REGN-COV2) has 'cured' him of COVID-19, and promises to make it free for Americans.

He was given the drug along with Remdesivir, another experimental antiviral treatment, which has been shown to help some coronavirus patients recover faster.

He has endorsed both drugs saying since treatment, he is good as new. But Bailey, past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ), says no matter how severe the local situation becomes, experimental drugs are not an option.

"I have absolutely no information about Regeneron. Once you say to me that you're using an experimental drug, I tend not to pay much attention to it. But I must say though, when you give a particular drug to someone, even if they appear to get better, it doesn't mean it's the drug that made them better," Bailey told THE STAR.

Regeneron is made up of two antibodies which are man-made to act like human antibodies in the immune system.

Advises against it

Bailey adds, however, that he is familiar with Remdesivir, but advises against it being used as a COVID-19 treatment because it is experimental.

"It can be used as a last resort if a patient is severely ill and all normal treatment have been used, and if there's a chance that the drug could save the patient's life. But it is an investigative drug which means that it's still going through trial." he said. "It might work, as well as it might not. You not only have to determine the efficacy of the drug, but you also have to determine the safety. Before they are approved, drugs go through four phases. All the drugs that are used in Jamaica have completed phase three or four and are known to be effective."

He says that way, they are validated, and the side effects and complications are known.

President Trump revealed last Friday that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for COVID-19.

Since then, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser to the president, among others, have also tested positive.

More than 211,000 persons have died from the virus in the US.