The Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against the use of the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19 saying the drug is only used for treating animals.
“Ivermectin is NOT APPROVED by the FDA for treatment of any viral infection,” the DOH said in its Facebook page.
“The registered Ivermectin veterinary products are only approved for use the prevention of heartworm disease and treatment of internal and external parasites in certain animal species,” the DOH said.
In an advisory, the FDA said “the registered Ivermectin products in the country for human use are in topical formulations under prescription use only. This is used for the treatment of external parasites such as head lice and skin conditions such as rosacea.”
The regulatory agency added that the registered veterinary products are only approved for use in animals for the prevention of heartworm disease and treatment of internal and external parasites in certain animal species.
The FDA warned that using animal drugs like Ivermectin in humans can cause serious harm as animal drugs are “often highly concentrated and can be highly toxic to humans.”
“Any use of Ivermectin veterinary products for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 should be avoided as the benefits and safety for this purpose has not been established. Data from clinical trials are necessary to determine whether Ivermectin is safe and effective in treating or preventing COVID-19,” the FDA warned.
Under the law, the FDA is mandated in the regulation of the importation, sale and dispensation of medical products. However, criticism mounted against the FDA after it failed to penalize the Presidential Security Group (PSG) for its unauthorized use of smuggled Sinopharm vaccines.
President Rodrigo Duterte justified the illegal vaccination even warning Congress of a potential “crisis” should the legislative branch of government compel the PSG to reveal details about the unauthorized use of unregistered vaccines.
While he agreed that the vaccines used by the PSG were smuggled, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, however, justified the act as it was meant to protect Duterte. – Rommel F. Lopez