The Supreme Court (SC) was asked on Thursday, Sept. 16, to compel the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a certificate of product registration (CPR) and license to operate to companies engaged in the manufacture, importation, and distribution of Ivermectin as drug against COVID-19.
The petition was filed by House Deputy Speaker Rodante D. Marcoleta, Anakalusugan Rep. Michael T.Defensor, House Deputy Speaker Rodante, and Homer L. Lim, Maria Shamylle C. Quinto and Rafael R. Castillo – all physicians.
Named respondents were Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque and FDA Director General Rolando Enrique D. Domingo.
A copy of the petition was not immediately available. Portions of the petition were secured from SC sources.
Many have argued that the Ivermectin serves as a cheaper drug and would benefit the poor who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus.
“The story of Ivermectin highlighted that we are at the remarkable juncture of medical history where rigorous scientific evidence, our training and experience, the tools that we use to heal are systematically undermined by relentless disinformation stemming from corporate greed,” the petitioners told the SC.
“Had Ivermectin been used in 2020 when medical colleagues around the world alerted the authorities to its efficacy, millions of lives could have been saved and the pandemic, with all the associated suffering and loss, brought to a rapid and timely end,” they said.
But they lamented that government health experts have been against the use of Ivermectin as a drug against COVID-19.
They told the SC that the registered Ivermectin products in the country for human use are in topical formulations under prescription use only, to treat external parasites such as head lice and skin conditions such as rosacea.
It was not known immediately if the SC would tackle the petition during its next online session.