Unproven ivermectin has become a popular alternative COVID treatment among vaccine skeptics.health

Some Arizonas are seeking ivermectin, an unproven alternative to COVID-19, which is gaining popularity among conservatives as a way to both prevent and treat infections, and go to the Poison Control Center. Calls and at least one hospitalization are increasing.

Ivermectin Not approved by the Food and Drug Administration Treat COVID-19. It is primarily used to treat parasites and is not an antiviral drug. One form of drug approved by the FDA is Intestinal illness When Roundworm..

Nonetheless, it is increasingly sought after as an alternative COVID treatment, primarily in a conservative circle of growing skepticism about the coronavirus vaccine. Some people are taking a toxic version of the drug that is intended only for use as an anthelmintic in horses.

Private Vaccine Controversy Provided to Facebook Group Posts Arizona Mirror Twitter user AZ Right Wing Watch shows that Arizona citizens are looking for ways to get drugs. According to the Phoenix Banner Toxic and Drug Information Center, one person was hospitalized after taking the drug. NS mirror Through the Facebook group, we found two nurse practitioners who prescribed drugs to people for off-label COVID treatment.

In 2020, toxicology authorities received two calls a year related to a form of drug that is most commonly associated with livestock but is also used by humans. So far in 2021, Phoenix’s Banner Poison Control has received 12 calls and the Tucson Center has received 20 calls. It is unknown whether the phone is for humans or livestock.

Banner Toxicology received two calls related to ivermectin in August, including those who were hospitalized. Posts to the Facebook group against vaccines show that Arizonas are trying to find a way to get the drug.

“Does anyone know a local doctor who prescribes ivermectin?” One post in Arizona launches! group. One answer included a link to a list of naturopaths and nurses nationwide and outside the United States who allegedly prescribed controversial medications.

Get up in Arizona!A group, a woman posted a photo of her doing something Increasingly popular With people who believe that ivermectin is a cure for COVID.She can be seen putting Dervet ivermectin hose paste Serve a spoon with applesauce.

“The farm store has ivermectec (sp) horse warmer paste,” one user replied in the same thread as before.

“Yeah. And it works. I took it,” another user replies.

Pastes containing less than 1.87% ivermectin Very dangerous for humans, And the company that Arizona makes posts consume the brand is wielding a big warning on its website that warns users that their products are not for human consumption or treatment of COVID.

NS Warning label on company website It is harmful if swallowed and is “suspected of giving birth or damaging the foetation.” The paste can also damage internal organs and is harmful to aquatic life. The vapor is toxic to breathing and it is advisable to see a doctor if ingested or in contact with the eyes.

One syringe of the company’s ivermectin hose paste For treating 1,250 pounds of horses Others claim to be taking the entire syringe online. The company that manufactures the most popular ivermectin horse product, Durvet, did not respond to requests for comment.

Prescription available in some cases

NS mirror We have contacted the providers listed in Arizona Stands Up! The Facebook group asked what version of ivermectin they are prescribing and how they are doing it. Only one provider responded.

Sarah Fuller, Gilbert-based nurse practitionerShe said she would not recommend “veterinarian grade ivermectin” to patients. “Because it is not purified for human use / medication.”

Fuller’s website states that drug prescriptions do not go through retail pharmacies.Email to her Arizona Mirror She generated an automatic response indicating that she was using ivermectin to supplement the patient’s prescription for a “preventive protocol.”

“I only use dispensing pharmacies in the Greater Phoenix area and some local dispensing pharmacies,” the email said.

Dispensing pharmacies ignited in 2012 when one of Michigan died in connection with the outbreak of meningitis. Over 100 people And more infections 750 in 23 states..

The outbreak caused the passage of 2013 Pharmaceutical Quality and Security Act, Created an “outsourcing facility” to formulate pharmacies to obtain specific drugs in bulk.However, certain The problem still remains..

Arizona is the only 22 states that carry out regular inspections It requires certain sterility conditions at dispensing pharmacies and at the facilities where the drug is made.More than 60 people in Texas Lost all or part of eyesight By contaminated steroid injection.

There are few federal regulations on complex pharmacies, and the regulations are primarily left to state organizations such as: Arizona Pharmacy.. The Arizona Pharmacy did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

The alleged benefits of ivermectin are also oversold.

Link on the provider’s website that replied to mirror Send visitors to a website that contains studies that allegedly show the efficacy of the drug against COVID. However, many of the studies do not conclude that ivermectin can decisively help people affected by COVID, perhaps not peer-reviewed scientific studies. They are actually showing the opposite.

One small sample size study from Brazil The site found that people who used ivermectin with other drugs actually had lower levels of COVID antibodies required for immunity.

“”[O]Our results strongly suggest that the use of ivermectin may interfere with and affect certain immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Memory cell And the production of antibodies against the virus, “says the study. People who took the medicine also experienced abdominal pain and diarrhea, and their taste became dull.

Dr. Shad Marvasti, an associate professor at the University of Arizona and a doctor specializing in chronic diseases, said ivermectin was ineffective in treating COVID and was confused by this trend.

“It doesn’t make any sense, and I don’t know if people are trying to get rid of vaccinations or if they think they’ve found a miracle drug,” Malbasti said. “Even vitamin D is strongly associated with better outcomes of COVID infection than ivermectin.”

Malbasti said ivermectin should be used with caution for several reasons, primarily because of the way the liver processes the drug. Ivermectin can cause negative interactions with other drugs and supplements that are processed by the same part of the liver as the alleged COVID treatment, Marvasti said.

“We always want people to be interested in quick solutions. It’s always a medical problem,” Marvasti said.

Nurse practitioners like Fuller are regulated by the Arizona Nursing Commission.

“If someone believes a nurse is practicing improperly, they should obey Handling complaints Janeen Dahn, Ph.D., RN, and FNP-C, Associate Directors of the Arizona State Nursing Commission, said: mirror..

In 2014, the Board released its opinion on how nurse practitioners should prescribe “off label” medications and treatments. This was revised in May 2020.

The Board defines off-label treatment as the use of FDA-approved drugs for purposes other than those intended or considered “.”

A nurse practitioner can prescribe off-label use if it is within the scope of their practice and discipline. For example, a nurse practitioner focused on family medicine was unable to prescribe off-label medication to treat mental illness.

Many of the providers of treatment are naturopathic facilities. Providing something like IV therapyIt also works in the less regulated gray areas of the state.

Ivermectin is gaining popularity primarily in conservative circles. Fox News Expert And the right-wing media pushes the drug out as a COVID treatment.

One of Arizona’s admins stands up! The Facebook group posted an anti-Semitic photo on her personal Facebook page, claiming that the Star of David police would come to the people’s door to enforce the vaccine.

Some Arizona politicians have also been caught up in the ivermectin epidemic, including the governor’s hopeful former Fox 10 anchor Calilake. Tweeted the link to the story About ivermectin, which claims that those who tried to censor the information have “blood in their hands.”

Arizona GOP Chairman Kelli Ward, DoctorDoug Logan, CEO of Cyber ​​Ninja, who is leading the controversial “audit” in the 2020 elections, tweeted support for those promoting ivermectin. Use medicine rear Contract COVID..

Arizona reported 4,740 new COVID cases on September 1, and has infected more than one million people in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic. More than 18,800 people have died from the virus in Arizona.

Anyone seeking vaccination can find vaccine information for Maricopa County online here State-wide here..

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