A lawmaker from the House of Representatives of the Philippines calls out FDA regulators to keep an open mind on Ivermectin.
House Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera has urged regulators to “keep an open mind” on Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug being used in many countries to prevent and treat the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“In the absence of an efficient treatment that can be used for the management of COVID-19, our regulators must maintain a more open mind and take a closer look at Ivermectin as a possible cure for the disease, which has so far killed more than 13,000 people across the country,” Herrera said.
The Bagong Henerasyon lawmaker said she fully supports the resolution recently filed by 1-PACMAN Party-list Rep. Eric Pineda seeking to investigate the act of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of disallowing the production of Ivermectin for human consumption as drug for prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
The FDA has reportedly ordered pharmaceutical firms to halt production of Ivermectin and for doctors to stop treating COVID-19 patients with the drug made for and intended for use by animals, particularly horses.
However, Herrera noted that the drug has been proven to reduce the effects of COVID-19 in infected patients when used with vitamins and supplements, based on several successful clinical trials around the world.
Ivermectin is widely used as a COVID-19 drug in India, South Africa and many Latin American countries, Herrera pointed out.
“It is not right for the FDA to slam the door shut on Ivermectin without conducting a thorough study or review on its being a potential COVID-19 treatment,” Herrera said.
Echoing Pineda’s contention, Herrera said Ivermectin is way more cost-effective than other potential repurposed drugs, such as Remdesivir.
She noted that Remdesivir, the current drug being used to treat COVID-19-infected patients, costs around P28,000 per vial and must be administered twice daily until such time the patient is discharged.
“Ivermectin, on the other hand, costs only around P35, to be administered once daily for three days, which means you only need to spend a little over P100 for the entire treatment,” Herrera said.
Herrera expressed hope the House Committee on Health would immediately conduct the probe and come up with a recommendation on Ivermectin.
“I extremely hope that the FDA will eventually allow Ivermectin to be used for COVID-19 prevention and treatment,” Herrera said.
She added: “I’m sure we are all longing for a cure for COVID-19 and Ivermectin could be it. We badly need a cure now with more people are dying and coronavirus cases are rising exponentially in recent weeks.”
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