Texas sees 550 percent spike in poison calls for horse and cow dewormer, despite FDA warning – “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”

By William Joy
25 August 2021

BURLESON, Texas (WFAA) – Inside 731 Farm Store in Burleson, Matt Meredith has taped up a warning from the FDA about ivermectin.

“Not for human consumption. It says it on the bottle,” Meredith said. “It’s for deworming cattle, deworming horses.”

Many people have started taking it to treat or prevent COVID-19, despite an FDA warning titled “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19″. [There’s a lot of published clinical research showing that medically administered ivermectin has no effect on Covid recovery, e.g., Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. – Des]

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Meredith said. “Even through swine flu and all that, nothing like this.”

“Some of the most common effects that you can see … are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,” said Liz Petty at the North Texas Poison Center.

They ask for ivermectin or iver-medicine or whatever the case may be. This is for livestock. I mean, one tube will treat a 1,250-pound horse. Just think about the consequences if a child were to get ahold of it. We always say that medications look like candy to children.

Liz Petty, North Texas Poison Center

The North Texas Poison Center reports they’ve received 52 poisoning calls for ivermectin this year, compared to six through August of last year.

The numbers are increasing, too. Sixteen of the 52 calls this year have been in August.

In August of 2020, Texas received two reports about ivermectin poisoning statewide. This August, they’ve received 55.

Last year, the state received 23 ivermectin reports from January through August. This year, there have been 150, an increase of 552%.

Petty believes it’s likely underreported because it’s self-reported.

“It’s sometimes a little difficult for us from the poison center to really grasp, you know why people are using things outside of their intended use,” she said. “It definitely could potentially spiral out of control if the misinformation still continues to circulate out in the public.”

There is a human version of the product, but it’s not approved to treat COVID-19, because there’s no clear evidence from any major study that it helps. The poison center will now ask people where they bought it and which formula.

Fox News hosts have pushed the drug as an effective treatment for COVID-19. A non-peer reviewed study that appeared to show a strong benefit was retracted, because of issues with plagiarism and manipulated data.

Phil Valentine, a conservative radio host in Tennessee, had told his audience he found a doctor to prescribe him ivermectin. Valentine later died of COVID-19. His brother said the host regretted not being a strong advocate for vaccination.

In comparison to SOC or placebo, ivermectin (IVM) did not reduce all-cause mortality, length of stay or viral clearance in RCTs in COVID-19 patients with mostly mild disease. IVM did not have an effect on AEs or severe AEs. IVM is not a viable option to treat COVID-19 patients.

Yuani M Roman, et al., Clinical Infectious Diseases, 28 June 2021, 10.1093/cid/ciab591

Many feed stores across North Texas told WFAA they are sold out of ivermectin. Meredith said his supplier told him they can’t get it for him.

“Nobody’s got it,” Meredith said. “You can’t even order it online.” […]

“They ask for ivermectin or iver-medicine or whatever the case may be,” he said. “This is for livestock. I mean, one tube will treat a 1,250-pound horse.”

“Just think about the consequences if a child were to get ahold of it,” Petty said. “We always say that medications look like candy to children.” [more]

Texas sees 550% spike in poison calls for horse and cow dewormer, despite FDA warning

Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: We systematically assessed benefits and harms of the use of ivermectin (IVM) in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: Published and preprint randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing IVM effects on COVID-19 adult patients were searched until March 22, 2021 in five engines. Primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, length of stay (LOS), and adverse events (AE). Secondary outcomes included viral clearance and severe AEs. Risk of bias (RoB) was evaluated using Cochrane RoB 2·0 tool. Inverse variance random effect meta-analyses were performed. with quality of evidence (QoE) evaluated using GRADE methodology.

Results: Ten RCTs (n=1173) were included. Controls were standard of care [SOC] in five RCTs and placebo in five RCTs. COVID-19 disease severity was mild in 8 RCTs, moderate in one RCT, and mild and moderate in one RCT. IVM did not reduce all-cause mortality vs. controls (RR 0.37, 95%CI 0.12 to 1.13, very low QoE) or LOS vs. controls (MD 0.72 days, 95%CI -0.86 to 2.29, very low QoE). AEs, severe AE and viral clearance were similar between IVM and controls (all outcomes: low QoE). Subgroups by severity of COVID-19 or RoB were mostly consistent with main analyses; all-cause mortality in three RCTs at high RoB was reduced with IVM.

Conclusions: In comparison to SOC or placebo, IVM did not reduce all-cause mortality, length of stay or viral clearance in RCTs in COVID-19 patients with mostly mild disease. IVM did not have an effect on AEs or severe AEs. IVM is not a viable option to treat COVID-19 patients.

Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials