Oregon Health & Science University reported Friday that in the 45 days before September 14, five Oregonians had to be hospitalized “because they consumed a potent antiparasitic drug despite there being no clinical data supporting its use for COVID-19…
“Two people were so severely ill that they had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.”
The Oregon Poison Center has managed 25 cases involving Oregonians intentionally misusing ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19 between Aug. 1 and Sept. 14… The Oregon Poison Center’s recent cases involved a variety of symptoms, including mental confusion, balance issues, low blood pressure and seizure. The patients were in their 20s through their 80s, although most were older than 60. The cases were fairly evenly split between both men and women, and between people attempting to either prevent or treat COVID-19. Some cases involved individuals obtaining a prescription for either human or veterinary forms of the drug.
Both the Food and Drug Administration and Merck, which makes ivermectin for human use, have announced there is no scientific data that supports its use for COVID-19. Neither the FDA nor the National Institutes of Health have endorsed its use for COVID-19, and OHSU doesn’t recommend any use of ivermectin for COVID-19.
They add that “The Oregon Poison Center strongly recommends the public only use scientifically proven and FDA-approved methods to combat the novel coronavirus.”
But there’s also been more hospitalizations from ivermectin overdoses in other states, reports the Arizona Republic. Banner Health, a 50,000-employee health non-profit managing 30 hospitals in six states (and staffing a local poison control hotline) reports that their “Poison and Drug Information Center” received at least 30 calls this year, including 10 in August, and “at least seven cases have resulted in hospitalization, health system officials said.”
“That is the bare minimum. We expect that there are probably more adverse effects,” said Dr. Daniel Brooks, medical director for Banner Health’s Poison and Drug Information Center. “We are very concerned that people are using this medication inappropriately because we don’t know what dose they are using. We don’t even know what product they are getting their hands on…” ivermectin has side effects in up to 10% of people who are treated with it, Brooks said. Side effects can include diarrhea, confusion, nausea, vomiting, balance problems and blurred vision…
“If they have side effects, then they could end up in the emergency department, further overwhelming the health system in Arizona and the rest of the United States and potentially getting COVID from sitting in a busy emergency department waiting room, or being admitted to the hospital because of ongoing nausea and vomiting.”
And even in the same state, other organizations also reported more hospitalizations from ivermectin overdoses. “The University of Arizona’s Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, which has had 19 reports related to ivermectin so far this year, including eight who were hospitalized, center director Steve Dudley wrote in an email.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.