The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reiterated its stand against the use of anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin to prevent and treat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo said that it would be best to wait for the result of the different studies being conducted by health experts on Ivermectin before making a conclusion.
“We recognized that it is a drug under investigation for treatment of COVID-19 but we still do not have any solid evidence yet. Right now, the scientific evidence is not sufficient for us to be able to say that it really works against COVID-19, so we cannot recommend it for routine use and treatment of patients who have COVID-19,” said Domingo in an online forum on Wednesday, May 5.
“We just have to wait for more data. We just have to wait for the ongoing clinical trials that are well-designed to be completed,” he added.
Domingo said that the issue on Ivermectin should not be politicized and that the people should trust science.
“What I'm asking, let's listen to our experts, let us listen to those who study it, let us listen to those who treat our patients and wait until the science is completed before we make our conclusion. It should not be a political thing. Medicine is very apolitical,” he said.
“Let us keep our heads cool. Let us look at the science and look at our experts - the Philippine Medical Association, from the Philippine College of Physicians, from the Philippine Pharmacists Association, and infectious disease specialists - these are the ones treating COVID-19 patients everyday, in the ICU (intensive care units) and in the wards. They say that we cannot prescribe Ivermectin yet because the evidence is not yet clear,” he added.
Domingo made the pronouncement after two lawmakers, Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta and Anakalusugan Partylist Rep. Mike Defensor, recently launched an event named “Ivermectin Pan-three,” wherein they distributed free Ivermectin capsules in Quezon City.
An investigation has already been launched by the FDA on the possible violation during the event, particularly on the dispensing of Ivermectin.
When asked if the FDA can impose penalties on the two lawmakers, Domingo said: “technically, we are monitoring the doctors, pharmacists, and the drug suppliers. They (lawmakers) are from a different branch of government already,” he said.
Meanwhile, there were already six hospitals that have already been granted a compassionate special permit (CSP) to use Ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19.
“Six hospitals, I supposed, have CSP for Ivermectin...They are private hospitals and not only in Metro Manila. Some are in the provinces,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Domingo said that an informed consent from patients is required since Ivermectin is an investigational drug.