ARKANSAS, USA — The Arkansas Medical Board has officially opened a case investigating a doctor prescribing the anti-parasite drug Ivermectin to Washington County Jail inmates who test positive for COVID-19. The use of the drug as a treatment for the virus is sparking a lot debate online.
5News did some research to find the answers by talking to Julie Stewart, a pharmacist with medical arts pharmacy in Fayetteville, and asking Is the drug safe?
“It is a safe drug. I mean, it was FDA approved and even at large doses we don’t see a whole lot of side effects, it looks like," said Stewart. “There’s been such a rush for it that it’s been out of stock and so people are turning to the veterinary forms of it and that’s where you really get into issues with safety.”
Both the FDA and CDC warned against taking Ivermectin as a treatment option for COVID-19 this week. And when it comes to COVID-19 specifically, why is the vaccine okay to use without full FDA approval but this drug is not?
“It wasn't completely FDA approved but it was emergency authorized, emergency use authorized for use and it was understudies with really high numbers of subjects, which helps to find those side effects, pretty easily,” Stewart said.
Dr. Josh Meyerson, Medical Director for a district health department in Michigan explains how Ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment has not been studied at the same level.
"There have been some studies. Unfortunately, very few, if any of them have been good, well-controlled studies... What we need are good studies, right?," asked Dr. Meyerson. "If you really wanted to know if a drug is effective, I personally would want to know if that drug was studied and tested and shown to be safe and effective."
Dr. Meyerson and Washington County jail physician, Dr. Rob Karas, have different opinions on the drug and its use as a treatment for COVID-19.
"I've had COVID twice. I've taken Ivermectin. I've given it to my mom before she got vaccinated, she was on it preventatively," said Dr. Rob Karas who has been prescribing the drug to Washington County Inmates. "My step-mom, my in-laws, my sister, my sister's kids, thousands of patients we've treated with it. I have not experienced any, we have not seen any bad side effects from it."
Stewart also says, without further research and testing of the drug’s use to treat covid-19, she believes it’s hard to say what exactly Ivermectin does for COVID-positive patients.
The FDA confirms some initial research is underway but has not reviewed any data to support the use of Ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19. To view the FDA's stance on Ivermectin, click here.