Linda and John Mihalcin-contributed photo
The family of John Mihalcin of Brookfield, who is currently hospitalized with the COVID-19 coronavirus, has started a petition drive. The drive is aimed at gaining support for loosening restrictions on COVID-19 patients who are eligible to receive blood plasma donations from COVID-19 patients who have recovered and are now virus free.
Mihalcin’s doctors at Sharon Regional Medical Center have requested a trial “convalescent plasma” treatment for him, and he is on a waiting list. His family said several people are willing to donate their plasma to him, but new regulations prevent a plasma donor from donating to a specific person.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has started a clinical trial on an emergency basis to determine if antibodies from recovered virus patients are an effective treatment for sick virus patients. Doctors are allowed to put in requests to the FDA to use this therapy.
The FDA noted in its guidance concerning the trial that it “does not collect COVID-19 convalescent plasma or provide COVID-19 convalescent plasma. Healthcare providers or acute care facilities should instead obtain COVID-19 convalescent plasma from an FDA-registered blood establishment.”
Dr. Derek Mihalcin, a licensed psychologist and the son of John Mihalcin, said the American Red Cross, which supplies blood products to Sharon Regional, determines who gets the plasma. Derek Mihalcin said he contacted the Red Cross through a complaint and comment link on the national Red Cross website, and said he got the following response:
“We know this is a difficult time for many. It is particularly challenging for those who have an ailing loved one and are waiting for a convalescent plasma product to become available. At this time, the Red Cross will no longer accept direct donor requests as this process often delays the product further while requiring additional resources to meet an individual need. It is critical we devote our resources and efforts to collecting and building a larger supply of readily available convalescent plasma to meet the broader demand for all patients in need. This also allows the Red Cross to ensure patients receive products in accordance with a fair and equitable process.”
However, Lisa Landis, spokeswoman for the Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Red Cross, said “We are not in a position to determine who gets plasma. That is not in our wheelhouse.”
She referred further questions to a spokeswoman for the Red Cross’ biomedical division, who did not immediately respond to a voicemail message.
No matter who is making the determination, it is wrong for people to not be able to designate where their plasma goes, Derek Mihalcin said.
“We have people local and, I think, in Columbus, who had it and are tested negative and are willing to donate, and we just can’t,” he said. “Anything else you can donate, a kidney, you can specify who it goes to, but the (John Mihalcin’s) doctors put in their request a while ago for him to get the plasma treatment, but we were just told he was put on a waiting list from Red Cross because they’re the ones that handle it. There’s a lot of frustration on our part.”
The petition asks that donors be allowed to designate who receives their donation.
“I just did that at 10 o’clock last night and we’re almost at 500 signatures,” Mihalcin said the late morning of May 2. “People really responded to the fact that these people want to donate it to him. Let them donate it. It’s their choice. It’s their plasma.”
The petition is available at:
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/plasma-donation-for-john-mihalcin
Mihalcin said the family does not have a specific destination for the petition, but he has reached out to state and federal officials to make them aware of the issue.
“We just sort of wanted something to be able to present to someone to say, ‘Listen, there is a lot of people supporting this idea,’” Mihalcin said. “These are constituents in the area saying, ‘Hey, help this man. Get him the treatment he wants.’”
John Mihalcin, 76, who has had health issues, started noticing symptoms on April 20, and was tested for the coronavirus that day. He became weak and fell several times.
“By Wednesday (April 22), he wasn’t drinking or eating and wasn’t doing well,” Derek Mihalcin said. “At that point, he went to Sharon Regional by ambulance, Wednesday night, which was also his 53rd (wedding) anniversary.”
John Mihalcin was admitted to a regular room, but was transferred to the intensive care unit over the weekend. Doctors treated him with hydroxychloroquine and put him on kidney dialysis and a ventilator.
“This last Wednesday (April 29) was the worst we have seen, and we thought it was going to be the end, but he’s slowly responding,” Derek Mihalcin said. “Each day I check in with him, he’s a little bit better. We have had these little wins here the last couple days, which we like, but we just feel that, if there is a treatment for him that would help him, in combination with what else he’s receiving, he should get that.”
The family has only been able to communicate with John Mihalcin through Face Time – the nurses have an iPad to facilitate that.
“The most difficult thing is that my brother, sister, and I, and the rest of the family, can’t be there with him,” Derek Mihalcin said. “He’s fighting this alone. We can’t comfort our mother (Linda) in person, because she’s in quarantine at home. It makes us feel so helpless. Any other medical issue, we would be able to rally around him and hold his hand and hug each other, but this virus prevents us from doing any of that.”
Derek Mihalcin said the doctors and nurses at Sharon Regional have been “absolutely wonderful,” and done things like play oldies music in John Mihalcin’s room, to try to make him more comfortable.
“When I talked to the ICU nurse the other night, she was saying how frustrating for them this is,” Derek Mihalcin said. “This is new for them as well. They can’t fall back on, ‘Well, this has worked in the past. This has been effective in doing this.’ They’re learning, and this is all to new to them as well.”
