Wall St. Journal Op-Ed: Why Is the FDA Attacking a Safe, Effective Drug?

[WorthyBot]

The Food and Drug Administration claims to follow the science. So why is it attacking ivermectin, a medication it certified in 1996?

Earlier this year the agency put out a special warning that “you should not use ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.” The FDA’s statement included words and phrases such as “serious harm,” “hospitalized,” “dangerous,” “very dangerous,” “seizures,” “coma and even death” and “highly toxic.” Any reader would think the FDA was warning against poison pills. In fact, the drug is FDA-approved as a safe and effective antiparasitic. Read this very interesting Op-Ed in full: Wall Street Journal

In the event the original article can no longer be accessed, this is a PDF copy of the original Wall Street Journal article.

View the full article

[other one]

Ivermectin side effects

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction to ivermectin: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Call your doctor at once if you have:

eye pain or redness, puffy eyes, problems with your vision;

severe skin rash, itching, or rash with pus;

confusion, change in your mental status, balance problems, trouble walking;

fever, swollen glands, stomach pain, joint pain, swelling in your hands or feet;

fast heart rate, trouble breathing;

loss of bladder or bowel control;

neck or back pain, seizure (convulsions); or

a light-headed feeling, like you might pass out.

Common ivermectin side effects may include:

headache, muscle aches;

dizziness;

nausea, diarrhea; or

mild skin rash.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

[one.opinion]

On 7/29/2021 at 3:58 PM, WorthyBot said:

So why is it attacking ivermectin, a medication it certified in 1996?

Let's check out some adverse effects data.

Quote

Between the years 2003 and 2017, the total average population treated was around 15,552,588 among which 945 cases of SAE were registered in DR Congo, i.e. 6 cases of SAE for 100,000 persons treated per year. 55 deaths related to post-CDTI SAE were recorded, which represents 5.8% of all cases of SAE. Non-neurological SAE were dominated by severe headaches (74.8%), myalgia (64.0%) and arthralgia (62.7%). Neurological SAE were mainly coma (94.1%), motor deficit (75.4%) and palpebral subconjunctival haemorrhages (38.8%).

https://bmcpharmacoltoxicol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40360-019-0327-5

Six cases per 100,000 treated shows us that Ivermectin is quite safe. However, the rate of severe adverse effects (SAE) for ivermectin is over 10X more frequent than for the COVID vaccines used in the US.

On top of that, 55 deaths related to ivermectin were recorded out of 15 million treated. In the US, over 100 million people are fully vaccinated, with 4 deaths that have been officially confirmed to be due to the vaccine. All 4 cases involved the J&J vaccine and not the mRNA vaccines.

To be clear, I believe larger ivermectin studies should be performed to put to rest all debate regarding its effectiveness against COVID. If it proves effective, ivermectin usage will be critical. I also agree that it is safe, just not as safe as the mRNA vaccines. However, ivermectin can be critically important in countries where vaccines are not currently available and may not ever be available to the general public.