THE FDA has warned people not to take the deworming drug ivermectin to treat Covid-19 since it’s meant for livestock.
The warning had to be issued after misinformation that the drug could be used to treat the virus was shared widely online, leading to a major spike in distribution.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shared a very clear message over the weekend.
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it,” the administration wrote on Twitter, with a link to a story about why not to take ivermectin.
The drug has been touted by right-wing media outlets and politicians.
When the possibility of using ivermectin was first proposed publicly in the winter, experts warned that test results suggesting the drug could stop the Covid virus from replicating were not conclusive.
Now, as many states are struggling to contain Covid cases once again, the distribution of ivermectin is up 19-fold, according to stats obtained by ABC.
WHAT IS IVERMECTIN?
The drug is an anti-parasite medication that is often used to treat animals like horses and cows. It can be prescribed to humans in certain situations but the dosages are different than in the veterinary versions, which many people are now purchasing.
Experts are stressing that the best way to fight Covid is to get one of the approved vaccines, not experiment with a drug that has not been approved for this purpose.
“The best protection we have against Covid-19 is the vaccine,” Dr Vivek Murthy said on CNN.
“If you get Covid-19, we actually do have treatments that work. Ivermectin is not one of them.”
The FDA’s warning said that ivermectin is approved for “treatment of certain internal and external parasites in various animal species.”
It added that “people should never take animal drugs [as] using these products in humans could cause serious harm.”
The administration listed several possible side effects from the drugs, including rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, swelling, neurological events, drop in blood pressure, and liver injury.
At least one person has been hospitalized, in Mississippi, for ingesting the drug.
