A leader of the House of Representatives has warned the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of drastic actions against the agencies should they refuse to expedite the approval of anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a medication for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Buhay Party-List representative and House Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza on Thursday, April 22, pressed the FDA director-general Eric Domingo to immediately permit the use ivermectin on COVID-19 treatment and prevention, saying he would be forced to take actions that they "might not like" if the agencies did otherwise.
He admitted the he has also been using the ivermectin and is distributing it to his friends, as well as the poor.
Atienza accused the FDA of "dribbling, passing the ball" to delay its approval for COVID-19 use, despite what he described as "incontrovertible and overwhelming evidences (sic)" of the drug's effectiveness.
"We are frustrated with the inability of these two agencies to come up with a definite answer," Atienza told the DOH and the FDA during the House blue ribbon committee's inquiry on the agencies' policies for approving potential COVID-19 drugs.
"Kung hindi po kayo magbibigay ng desisyon pa rin, palagay ko mapipilitin na kaming gumawa ng aksyon at baka hindi niyo magustuhan (If you still do not give us a decision on this, I think we will be forced to take actions and you might not like it)," he warned.
Atienza said Congress must also demand for Domingo's resignation, as well as of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who he said "is also on the spot".
Duque was not present in the House panel's virtual hearing.
"You are not doing your job properly. Do it now," he told Domingo.
Domingo, on the other hand, maintained that the FDA is doing everything under existing laws to fast track its processes.
But he reiterated that they are only following existing guidelines and scientific evidence on the efficacy of the investigational drug for coronavirus infections.
"At this time, hindi naman po natin sinasabing siya ay masama, o siya ay mabuti, kundi (we are not saying that ivermectin is bad or good, but) we know that it is a product under investigation for COVID-19. And the FDA is doing what we can to make it available," Domingo told the lawmakers.
Several members of the lower chamber have been prodding the DOH and the FDA to cut their processes for approving potential COVID-19 drugs, particularly ivermectin. They said the existing guidelines have become "detrimental to public interest."
Earlier, Domingo admitted that there has been some "pressure" to approve ivermectin as a COVID-19 drug.
Some health experts, including the World Health Organization (WHO), had raised concern over the use of ivermectin for COVID-19 due to the lack of strong evidence on its efficacy in as an anti-viral medication for humans.
As of April 22, the FDA has permitted the compassionate use of ivermectin for COVID-19 patients in three hospitals.
The compounding of the investigational drug as prescribed by doctors is also allowed, although the agency stressed that doctors and pharmacies must be accountable for the doses dispensed to those who will take it.
President Duterte has already ordered the conduct of clinical trials for ivermectin in the Philippines.