DOH vows action vs. distribution of ivermectin

The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday vowed to take action against the distribution of ivermectin after two lawmakers handed out the unregistered antiparasitic drug in Quezon City last week.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH will “uphold the law” in addressing the distribution of ivermectin.

“We will act accordingly, according to the existing laws that we have in the country, according to the identified violations, according to the accountable persons,” she said in an online briefing.

Over the weekend, Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor asked the DOH to spare the doctors who issued ivermectin prescriptions on a sheet of paper and not on a prescription pad for his project with Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta. 

The DOH forwarded reports of invalid prescriptions

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also started looking into the distribution.

Defensor and Marcoleta distributed ivermectin despite repeated warnings from health authorities and groups that it has not been proven to be a COVID-19 treatment.

FDA chief Eric Domingo previously said the project is legal if there would be doctors to prescribe ivermectin and the drug would be compounded by a licensed pharmacy.

The World Health Organization, US FDA, European Medicines Agency, and ivermectin manufacturer Merck do not support the use of the drug on COVID-19 patients based on current data. —KBK, GMA News