To the editor:
There was an article in the Daily Press last Friday, December 3, "County sees two more COVID deaths - Gila Regional Medical Center reopens ICU" that extensively quotes Human Services Secretary and acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase ,who spoke at a December 1 press conference, apparently in Santa Fe. Dr. Scrase made some comments about ivermectin that caught my attention, reprinted below;
<<Scrase displayed a slide during Wednesday's presentation which indicated there has been a total of 29 "ivermectin exposures" reported to the state Poison and Drug Information Center, including at least one in Grant County, since people began advocating for the dewormer drug as a treatment for COVID-19.
There is no scientific evidence that the drug is effective against COVID-19, and a man in his 60s recently died after he took a lethal overdose of the drug, according to Scrase, bringing the total number of ivermectin-related deaths to three.
Scrase said that two previously reported "ivermectin deaths" were not a result of overdoses, but rather were due to the individuals ingesting the dewormer in lieu of seeking treatment for COVID-19.
"It's like taking antacids for a heart attack," Scrase said. "Please don't take something that doesn't work, when you can take something that does.
"They ended up being too sick to survive once they got to the hospital," Scrase said of the first two ivermectin deaths. "The third one was a man in his 60s, who basically took an overdose of ivermectin. He took a horse dose of ivermectin — 50 times the dose I would prescribe to someone in my practice.">>
Three points:
1) There is scientific evidence that Ivermectin is effective:
https://www.nature.com/articles/ja201711
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8248252/
Conclusions:
Moderate-certainty evidence finds that large reductions in COVID-19 deaths are possible using ivermectin. Using ivermectin early in the clinical course may reduce numbers progressing to severe disease. The apparent safety and low cost suggest that ivermectin is likely to have a significant impact on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic globally.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8203399/
Conclusion
Considering the urgency of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, simultaneous detection of various new mutant strains and future potential re-emergence of novel coronaviruses, repurposing of approved drugs such as Ivermectin could be worthy of attention.
(There are many, many more ivermectin articles on the Webb, not all of which support its use. However, to categorically deny there are studies that support ivermectin is another example of medical malfeasance from government "experts," something becoming all too common in these Covid days.)
2) I could find no evidence that ivermectin has deadly side effects or has caused poisonings by overdose. The tubes of horse dewormer that I have are for a 1250 pound animal, which is about 10 doses for a smallish human such as myself. I cannot imagine anybody consuming five tubes, "50 times the dose I would prescribe."
3) If the "50 times" overdose is true, then it would appear that refusal to prescribe a harmless dose of ivermectin, even though it may have no beneficial effects, would constitute malpractice, as would refusal to prescribe it in addition to what the doctor would consider to be proper treatment. Doctors should be telling patients that that they can have an ivermectin prescription if they want it. At the least, it may have positive psychosomatic effects.
4) First, do no harm, Doc.
Peter Burrows, Silver City