Northern Ireland seizures of unproven drug used for Covid

By Michael Sheils McNameeBBC News NI

Thousands of tablets of a horse deworming drug promoted as an alternative Covid-19 treatment despite being unproven have been seized coming into Northern Ireland.

Ivermectin is used for parasitic infections in animals and also has some application for humans in small doses.

Between July 2020 and September 2021, 8,600 tablets were seized by the Medicines Regulatory Group (MRG).

In the 12 months prior to that, no tablets were seized.

The MRG is part of the Department of Health, and is responsible for overseeing the production and supply of controlled drugs in Northern Ireland.

It works with police, Border Force, and customs officers to intercept unlicenced medicines at the UK's borders, being brought in through the postal system.

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A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the tablets had originated mostly from south Asia, and said it was aware of a "general upsurge in public demand for Ivermectin as a Covid-19 treatment, particularly via the internet".

"At present there are no Ivermectin products approved for use in the UK for the prophylaxis or treatment of Covid-19," the department said.

"There is currently a clinical trial with Ivermectin ongoing in the UK and results are awaited."

In June, the University of Oxford began a trial to assess if Ivermectin could be used to keep Covid-19 patients out of hospital.

Earlier this week, Irish news website TheJournal.ie reported that 4,958 units of Ivermectin had been seized in the Republic of Ireland between July 2020 and July 2021 - up from 158 units in the year before.

The figures reported were confirmed to BBC News NI by the Health Products Regulatory Authority, the Irish medicines' regulator.

Ivermectin's rise to prominence

In recent months, Ivermectin has come to greater attention due to its promotion as an alternative treatment for Covid-19.

For human use, it is commonly used to treat parasitic infections such as river blindness, spread by flies, Ivermectin has also been shown to kill viruses in petri dishes in the lab - although, at much higher doses than would usually be prescribed to people.

In the United States, there have been reports of people becoming unwell having taken the drug.

Earlier this month, the US Center For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory that said calls to poison control centres across the US about human exposure to Ivermectin had risen sharply, with July calls being five times over the baseline number.

Speaking after contracting Covid-19, hugely popular American podcast host Joe Rogan said he had used Ivermectin as part of his treatment.

In August, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the body responsible for approving prescription drugs in the United States, tweeted out advice about why people should not take Ivermectin for Covid-19.

"You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y'all. Stop it," it wrote.

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In Northern Ireland, it is a criminal offence to unlawfully import prescription medicines.

The Department of Health said the MRG would continue to work with partner agencies to monitor illegal medicinal products coming into Northern Ireland.

It said it would also "shut down websites and social media pages making false claims about health products related to Covid-19".

The public is urged to report websites alleging to sell Covid-19 remedies to the MRG.

A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland said it had not been alerted to the misuse of Ivermectin as an issue.

Responsibility for approval of prescription drugs in the UK comes from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

"A marketing authorisation for an Ivermectin-containing medicine would only be issued based on robust data to show a positive risk benefit for the quality, safety and efficacy of the product," the department said.

The headline in this article was amended on September 27, 2021.

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