How People Can Access Experimental Drugs Like Remdesivir

Compassionate use allows very sick people to get access to treatments that might help Covid-19 — but it’s complicated.

One vial of the drug remdesivir. Photo: Ulrich Perrey/POOL/AFP/Getty Images

Eleven days after the first confirmed Covid-19 patient in the United States reported symptoms, he was treated with an experimental antiviral drug called remdesivir.