Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) — One more hospital has been given a compassionate special permit to use anti-parasitic drug ivermectin against COVID-19, Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said Thursday, adding one more CSP application is pending with the agency.
The FDA issued the CSP to a hospital, which was not named, on Wednesday, Domingo announced during a hearing at the House of Representatives. Early this month, two other hospitals, also unnamed, got FDA’s nod to prescribe this investigational drug to COVID-19 patients.
The FDA earlier said oral ivermectin products in the country are only approved for use on animals to prevent heartworm disease and treat infections caused by parasites. The agency added doctors can prescribe topical ivermectin products to individuals with parasitic infestations such as head lice and other skin conditions.
President Rodrigo Duterte has personally instructed FDA to allow ivermectin clinical trials in the country involving COVID-19 patients, with the Department of Science and Technology leading the study, Domingo previously revealed. Prior to this directive, DOST has said it had no plans of conducting clinical trials to determine the efficacy of the anti-parasitic drug against the coronavirus since similar studies are either completed or ongoing in other parts of the world.
The FDA, Department of Health, and several health experts, including Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the World Health Organization’s representative to the Philippines, earlier warned the public against the use of ivermectin for COVID-19 prevention or treatment. They said there is not enough proof showing the drug can be used to treat or prevent COVID-19.
