ILOILO City – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a compassionate special permit (CSP) to an undisclosed hospital for the use of Ivermectin – an anti-parasitic drug – as possible treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.
Local officials in Western Visayas however, although eager to see the end of the pandemic, are not too excited. They are cautious.
“I hope it will be safe for people considering that the medicine is actually for animals,” said Mayor Jerry Treñas of Iloilo City.
He did not reject Ivermectin outright but noted that even the pharmaceutical company manufacturing it was saying there was no basis for its use against COVID-19.
“Medically-approved clinical trials should be made first,” Treñas stressed.
Antique’s Gov. Rhodora Cadiao, a nurse by training, feared that this certain hospital given the CSP is being used as a “test ground”.
Speaking to Panay News, Cadiao opined: “Ginahimu nga guinea pig ang mga pasyente rugto. If they want to know if it is really effective, why not disclose the hospital?”
“Ang Ivermectin ginadali-dali nila nga gamiton kay ti uso dun ang balita nga effective kuno,” Cadiao said.
“It is unfair,” she went on. “Alam kong gusto natin magkaroon ng quick solution but this is not the time to use it for COVID patients.”
However, Cadiao clarified that should there be proof of Ivermectin’s potential for COVID-19 treatment, she is willing to procure it for the province.
Fformer Health secretary and now Iloilo’s 1st District congresswoman Janette Garin was more blunt.
“Anti-parasitic drug na gamot sa hayop ginawang anti-viral na gamot sa tao?…Dapat (FDA) decisions are backed by science. We are dealing with public health,” she stressed.
The CSP issued to the hospital was a “big joke”, Garin said.
The registered oral and intravenous preparations of Ivermectin are veterinary products which are approved for use in animals for the prevention of heartworm disease and treatment of internal and external parasites in certain animal species, the FDA said in a previous advisory.
It added: The drug is an important part of a parasite control program for some animal species and should only be administered according to its approved indication, or as prescribed by a duly licensed veterinarian.
Dr. Raul Banias, municipal mayor of Concepcion, Iloilo, said he was worried.
“If you grant a CSP sa isa ka bulong, dapat it should be transparent… need i-disclose ang hospital nga ma-implement sina,” Banias told Panay News.
Banias noted that in FDA’s previous advisory, it warned against the use of Ivermectin to humans “without medical proof.”
“I hope wala sang adverse effect sa aton mga pasyente sa isa ka hospital nga gintagaan sang permit sang FDA because ang hambal ko gani, it should be medically-proven,” he said.
Banias also shared that he had idea of Ivermectin’s use for COVID-19 patients abroad “pero madamo man ‘ta sang nabatian nga wala nakakuha sang severity sang COVID-19 ang bulong.”
For his part, Mayor Jaime Esmeralda of Igbaras, Iloilo, also a medical doctor, said this drug should not be abused “kay gina-limit man lang sang mga doctors ang pag-reseta sini.”
He did not shrug off the possibility of “an experiment” being done in the undisclosed hospital to test the effectiveness of the drug.
“Kon nakita nila nga may posibility nga makapaayo ang amo na nga drugs sa COVID-19 then why not give it a try,” said Esmeralda.
Congresswoman Garin said FDA issuing a CSP for just one hospital, but saying it could not be distributed and used for COVID-19 treatment in general, seems to be more of a political accommodation than a medical decision.
“This should not have a place in an institution that is primarily responsible for safety and efficacy of drugs and vaccines prior to allowing Filipinos to access such,” she said in a statement.
Garin noted that “compassionate use” means access for a patient with an immediate and urgent life-threatening condition or serious disease when no other option is available.
“Therefore you give it to dying patients where risks of an experimental drug are outweighed by the current situation of the patient. Kumbaga, no choice na. Last resort,” she added.
She also stressed that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the use of Ivermectin to treat COVID-19 be within the bounds of clinical trials because current evidence on it is inconclusive.
“Hindi pwedeng ganitong klase ang FDA natin… Para nilang sinabing pareho lang ang langgam sa daga. Pinareho nila ang galising aso o pusa sa mga may COVID-19,” Garin pointed out.
The legislator is also appealing to business owners and entrepreneurs not to take advantage of the desperation the people may feel.
“Viral illnesses are self-limiting. Kusang gumagaling ang karamihan unless complications set in because of existing comorbidities. Huwag naman linlangin ang taong bayan. Huwag abusuhin at gawing kapital ang takot na nararamdaman ng mga kababayan natin dahil sa COVID-19,” she added.
For its part, Department of Health (DOH) in Region 6 said there is no guideline yet from its central office on the possible use of Ivermectin against COVID-19.
Also, according to DOH-6 spokesperson Dr. Jane Juanico, there were two types of Ivermectin.
“May lain-lain man ni sia nga klase bal-an. May ara nga para sa sapat. May ara man designated para sa tawo. But this is an anti-parasitic drug, so far wala pa direction from DOH central office to use this,” said Juanico.
Iloilo’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., meanwhile, refused to respond as this was a “medical/technical issue”./PN
