Medical experts say this parasite-fighting drug shouldn’t be used to prevent or treat COVID-19. Here are the side effects and signs of toxicity you should know about.
Theresa Tamkins
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on October 13, 2021, at 4:28 p.m. ET

You’ve probably heard of ivermectin, a drug best known for getting rid of parasites in animals and humans. Like other pandemic-related topics, this once-obscure drug has catapulted into the global discussion because…well, people are desperate for treatments that work against COVID.

While some research in 2020 suggested ivermectin might be useful against COVID, those results haven’t stood up under scientific scrutiny, said Dr. Joseph Khabbaza, a pulmonary and critical care physician at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Early studies were conducted in laboratory culture dishes when scientists were testing pretty much anything and everything against the COVID-causing virus, SARS-CoV-2. However, just because a drug can kill a virus in a lab dish doesn’t make it a safe or effective treatment in humans, he said.

Some research was “very flawed or even fraudulent,” Khabbaza noted. “Those have been debunked; all the really good studies have not shown a benefit.” (Here’s an in-depth look at one prominent ivermectin study with serious flaws and inconsistencies.)

The verdict so far is clear: Ivermectin, although it’s still being studied, “has not been found to be effective for the prevention of COVID-19 or the treatment of acute infection once it has developed,” Khabbaza said.

However at high doses, side effects “can get really profound,” he said.

The following side effects and drug interactions that can occur with ivermectin are signs of ivermectin toxicity, according to the CDC:

Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
Dizziness
Low blood pressure
Tachycardia (an abnormally fast heart rate)
Headache
Blurred vision and visual hallucinations
Confusion
Tremors and loss of coordination and balance
Seizures
Central nervous system depression, decreased alertness, and coma
Ivermectin can also be dangerous when mixed with drugs that also can suppress the central nervous system, like benzodiazepines and barbiturates. It can sometimes increase the risk of side effects in people taking the blood-thinning drug warfarin.

The CDC recommends calling the poison control hotline (1-800-222-1222) and seeking immediate medical treatment if you have taken ivermectin and are experiencing symptoms.

October 10, 2021 at 1:07 pm EDT
By WPXI.com News Staff

WEST VIRGINIA — Like a scene right out of a spy movie, two Maryland residents were arrested in West Virginia after federal authorities said they used a Pittsburgh address, among other concealed methods, to commit espionage by selling restricted data to an undercover FBI agent.

Jonathan, 42, and Diana Toebbe, 45, both of Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested in Jefferson County, West Virginia, by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on Saturday and charged with violations of the Atomic Energy Act.

“The complaint charges a plot to transmit information relating to the design of our nuclear submarines to a foreign nation,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The work of the FBI, Department of Justice prosecutors, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Energy was critical in thwarting the plot charged in the complaint and taking this first step in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”

The FBI agent posed as representative of a foreign country and for almost a year, purchased information known as “Restricted Data” concerning the design of nuclear-powered warships from the Toebbes, who worked as a nuclear engineer at the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, where he had access to the restricted data, including information related to sensitive military design elements, operating parameters and performance characteristics of the reactors for nuclear-powered warships.

According to officials, the investigation began in April 2020 after Jonathan Toebbe sent a package to a foreign government, listing a return address in Pittsburgh, containing a sample of the Restricted Data and instructions to purchase additional secrets. The FBI set up a sting, and corresponded for several months before providing $100,000 in cryptocurrency for the secrets, which were left in encrypted SD cards at pre-arranged “dead drops” in West Virginia and Virginia, inside a half a peanut butter sandwich or chewing gum packages.

An Ohio man diagnosed with COVID-19 whose wife sued to force a hospital to give him the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin has died, his attorney said. Jeffrey Smith, 51, died on Sept. 25, his attorney, Jonathan Davidson, of Hamilton, told WXIX-TV in Cincinnati.

In August, an Ohio judge ordered West Chester Hospital to treat Mr. Smith with ivermectin after his wife sued, alleging that the facility refused to give her husband the drug, despite him having a doctor’s prescription.

Since mid-July, Mr. Smith had been the intensive care unit, battling a severe case of COVID-19, according to court records. His wife and guardian, Julie Smith, argued that ivermectin — a deworming drug that some people are using to prevent or treat COVID-19, despite several public health agencies advising against it — was her husband’s last shot at survival.

But then last month, a different judge reversed that order after Mrs. Smith and the doctor who prescribed her husband the ivermectin failed to provide “convincing evidence” at a court hearing to show that the drug could significantly improve his condition.