Dr Ravishankar, CEO Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, said that a 53-year-old male patient who was the first to undergo plasma therapy in Maharashtra, passed away on 29th April.

On Tuesday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that plasma therapy is used in the state on a trial basis after getting approval from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). He said that the plasma therapy is been done on a trial basis after ICMR approval. He further said that they have seen good results in two patients.

However, ICMR on Tuesday said that at present there are no approved, definitive therapies for COVID-19. Convalescent plasma is among one of several developing therapies. But, there is no robust evidence to support it for regular therapy.

ICMR had observed that convalescent plasma therapy has its own share of technical challenges, such as antibody titer testing. They had warned about the risks of using plasma therapy, including life-threatening allergic reactions and lung injury.

Source: ET Healthworld