Livestock deworming medication Ivermectin is not a miracle drug that can cure Covid-19 patients, the Health Ministry asserted today. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Livestock deworming medication Ivermectin is not a miracle drug that can cure Covid-19 patients, the Health Ministry asserted today.
Its principal investigator in the ministry’s Ivermectin Treatment Efficacy in Covid-19 High Risk Patients (I-TECH) Dr Steven Lim Chee Loon told reporters that widespread usage of the parasitic drug outside of a hospital setting without medical supervision may cause more harm than what is observed in clinical trials.
“Ivermectin is not a miracle drug for Covid-19, not as what some of the Ivermectin proponents have been claiming.
“It’s highly irresponsible, to be honest, especially coming from a doctor if you say Ivermectin is a miracle drug because when you say it’s a miracle drug to a lay person, it means a miracle drug where you will not get severe disease if you pop a tablet, especially to those who are uneducated,” said Dr Lim, an Infectious Diseases Specialist at Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh, Perak.
He had earlier presented the ministry’s findings to reporters following an in-depth study of Ivermectin on Covid-19 patients with severe symptoms of the coronavirus.
He explained that the study’s primary endpoint was to determine the number of patients who progressed to severe disease (clinical stage 4 or 5) and efficacy of Ivermectin in high-risk Covid-19 patients.
In his presentation, Dr Lim said the study started in December last year and used on 491 people as test subjects in 21 study sites.
“Yes, we know Ivermectin is generally a safe drug, but when used in a disease that has no effect at all, it will give false assurance and may be detrimental to the patients because they have false assurance when they don’t come to seek proper medical intervention.
“We only use drugs or medication if it’s proven efficacious. Those are fundamental facts. we only use it if it’s effective regardless of whether it’s cheap, old or safe,” he said.
As the lead investigator, Dr Lim said there were numerous false narratives with regards to the ministry’s I-TECH study where attempts were made to discredit or undermine the findings.
He said it is crucial for healthcare professionals to follow the science in a pandemic as there have been numerous false narratives propagated by certain groups.
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