AMA, Pharma Groups Go on the Warpath Against Ivermectin

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WSJ Asks FDA ‘What’s Wrong With Ivermectin?’


The American Medical Association (AMA) is taking a no-holds-barred stand against ivermectin, telling MSNBC that, jointly with the American Pharmacist Association (APhA) and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) they are asking medical providers to stop using the drug to treat COVID-19.

“Ivermectin has not been shown to be one of those to be effective for the COVID-19 virus,” Dr. Gerald Harmon, president of the AMA, told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. Harmon he understands “the zeal” for embracing drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for off-label use, but “right now the safest thing for you to do is take the current approved courses … If you require more treatment, there are established safe, very well-approved treatments.”

Ivermectin is a deworming medicine for animals that also treats lice and rare skin conditions. Many doctors have reported success using it for COVID-19; a February 2021 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial also indicated that a five-day course of the drug helped treat patients with mild COVID-19.

That’s not enough for the AMA, however. On its website the AMA decries the increase of prescriptions for the drug for outpatient use and warns against potential side effects. The same page also says it’s “vital” for everyone to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and that the FDA and CDC both warn against using ivermectin as a COVID treatment.

On MSNBC, Harman said ivermectin is illegal for physicians to prescribe, but if they do it anyway, to try and get their patient in a clinical trial for it. In related news, the AMA joined the APhA and the ASHP in a public statement that they “strongly oppose the ordering, prescribing or dispensing of ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19 outside of a clinical trial.”

 

SOURCES:

MSNBC September 1, 2021

American Medical Association August 27, 2021

Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Feb; 103: 214-216

WFMZ News September 1, 2021

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Publish Date: 2021-09-02 23:25:12