Politics : FDA warns people to stop taking veterinary ivermectin

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging people to stop taking veterinary drugs to treat or prevent Covid-19 after receiving multiple reports of patients who have been hospitalized after "self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses," according to the federal agency.

"You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it," the FDA tweeted from its official account on Saturday, alongside a consumer update detailing why the drug can be unsafe for humans.

Ivermectin, which is not an anti-viral drug, is generally used to treat or prevent parasites in animals.

"These animal drugs are often highly concentrated because they are used for large animals like horses and cows, which can weigh a lot more than" a human, the FDA update reads. "Such high doses can be highly toxic in humans."

Patients who overdose with ivermectin can experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, dizziness, problems with balance, seizures, coma and even death, according to the FDA.

The agency clarified that the FDA-approved ivermectin tablets meant to treat people with certain conditions caused by parasitic worms as well as topical formulations used for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea are different from the drug used on animals. Ivermectin tablets and topical formulations for humans have "very specific doses" that are significantly smaller than the doses meant for animals.

Moreover, "many inactive ingredients found in animal products aren’t evaluated for use in people," the FDA warned. "In some cases, we don’t know how those inactive ingredients will affect how ivermectin is absorbed in the human body."

The FDA stressed that no form of the ivermectin drug has been approved by the agency for use in treating or preventing Covid-19 in humans.

"However, some initial research is underway," the agency said, adding that "taking a drug for an unapproved use can be very dangerous. This is true of ivermectin, too."

The agency said it was forced to issue a warning in the consumption of ivermectin following "a lot of misinformation" around the drug.

"You may have heard that it’s okay to take large doses of ivermectin. That is wrong," the FDA consumer update reads. "Meanwhile, effective ways to limit the spread of Covid-19 continue to be to wear your mask, stay at least 6 feet from others who don’t live with you, wash hands frequently, and avoid crowds."

The FDA has also granted emergency use authorizations for three Covid-19 vaccines to prevent Covid-19 infections.

Covid-19 has claimed the lives of more than 630,000 people in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Since then, more than 37.6 million cases of Covid-19 infections have been reported nationwide, according to NBC News' tally.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/stop-it-fda-warns-people-not-take-veterinary-drugs-treat-n1277371

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This is CNN.

Oh dear

@IvorMectin

This is laughable. It works. More people every day are using it. So what do the Pharmaceutical companies do, they get their foot soldiers at the FDA and the mainstream media to discredit it.

Disregard and continue to take it. It will save your life. 🐎🐴

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The only poster who had his account banned 4 times without ever breaking any rules each of those times.

Neigh.

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If I get pulled over, it better be a gay policeman riding on a unicorn.

My son's physician had him taking this and he's vaccinated but got sick earlier. It's weird that the government thinks everyone's body is the same and will react the same way not understanding some people actually millions have pre-existing conditions and I would say about half of them don't even know about it since there are many maladies that have no symptoms and then there's a lot of symptoms that could be many different things. He got the shot on the right and he says his neck on the right side especially hurts but he has nerve problems on the right including his index finger shaking and twitching and I'm very worried as a parent.

As for me I've only had the first shot because I was apprehensive about taking it while my kids are very event-oriented kids so they got them as soon as possible but I only remember my arm hurting but I do Wonder about the future. If I ever become a grandfather I want to live long enough to see them grow and Hope that in a couple of years there aren't people dying of blood clots or some other new side effect or long-term effect