BOISE, Idaho — A national uptick in people using horse dewormer medicine to treat COVID-19 has medial officials concerned over the unsafe practice.
The Food and Drug Administration notes that while ivermectin, a medical paste given to horses to get rid of heartworms and parasites, is approved in humans for some purposes. But the ivermectin for horses at animal supply stores is a different kind. In horse dewormer medicine, one of the main ingredients is ivermectin.
Social media posts circulating encourage the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19. We've verified it is not a safe an effective treatment for COVID-19.
People who own horses are likely familiar with ivermectin. It's used every fall and spring, and the tube of paste is poured into the back of a horse's mouth to keep the horse free from worms.
The rush for the unproven treatment has reached the Treasure Valley. The 208 reached out to D&B Supply. Employees told KTVB that they normally sell out of it during the fall. With a rush on the horse dewormer, businesses have now posted warning signs, telling people that it's not safe or approved for human use.
The newest unfounded and unproven treatment against COVID-19 was floated by Dr. Ryan Cole, a candidate for the Central District Health Board, back in March. He said he's treated more than 200 patients with it. However, that was the prescription version for humans, not the kind for horses.
Ivermectin for horses is now sending people to the hospital. According to the Saint Alphonsus emergency medical director, Saint Als' Boise hospital is seeing one to three cases every day of people who took non-approved therapies like ivermectin.
Saint Alphonsus Executive Medical Director Dr. Patrice Burgess told The 208 that the use of ivermectin is a shocking and scary development.
"The medication on the shelf is for animals, of course, and so it's not dosed for humans," Burgess said. "It's absolutely not safe and not recommended to take that."
Burgess added that ivermectin isn't recommended because other countries have tried using it, and some people had worse outcomes due to it.
Burgess explained that while some medicine that is intended for one thing can be used for other purposes, it's not something a person should experiment with on their own.
"You want to wait and let the folks do that in a very controlled way with the proper dosing and the proper scientific experiments," she said.
Burgess said it's disheartening to see people use medicine meant for animals instead of safe, proven methods, like the COVID-19 vaccine. She added that ivermectin can have the biggest effects on the liver.
"You can always have allergic reactions and other effects on your blood and different side effects from any medicine, including ivermectin," she said.
Burgess described a patient that she treated a couple of months ago. The man came into the clinic saying he wasn't feeling well. It was soon found that the enzyme levels in his liver were three times what they should be. Then it was revealed that he was taking a dog worming medicine for the ivermectin. It took about a month for his enzyme level to return to normal.
One of the side effects of ivermectin is loss of bowel control, which led another patient back into the hospital after they took it to treat COVID-19.
The FDA and CDC strongly warn people against taking horse or dog dewormer to prevent or treat COVID-19.
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