WHO Says Ivermectin Should Only Be Used to Treat COVID-19 During Trials

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advised against using Merck’s anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients outside of clinical trials.

A WHO expert panel reviewed pooled data from 16 different trials that enrolled a total of 2,407 patients and found that the evidence of the drug reducing rates of death, the need for mechanical ventilation, hospitalization and time to COVID-19-related clinical improvement was of “very low certainty.”

The FDA and the European Medicines Agency previously cautioned against using ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, as did Merck.