Alberta Health Services put out a statement about the use of Ivermectin to treat symptoms and cases of COVID-19. The organization believes people are resorting to using the medicine due to the misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Claims that either the veterinary or human form of the drug is a life-saving medication against COVID-19 are not supported by current research. If there was good evidence for its use against this virus, AHS would absolutely be using it to help patients and reduce the burden on our healthcare system. As this evidence does not exist, AHS does not recommend the use of ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19 - not even as a “just in case” measure,” said AHS in a Statement. 

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney also discouraged the use of the drug on his social media page and during a Facebook live video. 

AHS says there are early studies into the use of ivermectin against COVID-19 that suggested possible benefit but none of those trials have been reviewed and assessed. 

“There are genuine concerns of fraudulent data being reported from some of the early trials, and the largest trial that supported ivermectin use has already been withdrawn as a result of data fraud,” said AHS. 

AHS states that it would never withhold life-saving treatment by not supporting the use of ivermectin. The drug is an anti-parasitic developed for the treatment of worms and parasites in animals that can have serious side effected if used improperly.

“There is no evidence that ivermectin benefits COVID-19 patients, but there are known harms. Ivermectin use has been associated with rash, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, abdominal pain, tremors, seizures and severe hepatitis (liver disease) requiring hospitalization. 

Further, the use of veterinary versions of ivermectin is risky because they may contain ingredients not used in medications for humans, and are meant for use in much larger animals like horses and cattle. Ingestion of large amounts of veterinary ivermectin can cause poisoning and even lead to death,” said AHS.