Did Australia Approve Ivermectin Treatment For COVID-19?

Did Australia just approve a breakthrough ivermectin treatment for COVID-19?

Take a look at the viral message, and find out what the FACTS really are!

 

Claim : Australia Approved Ivermectin Treatment For COVID-19!

This message has gone viral on social media, including WhatsApp and Telegram, claiming that Australia just approved a breakthrough ivermectin treatment for COVID-19.

It’s quite long, so just skip to the next section for the facts.

BREAKTHROUGH  IVERMECTIN TREATMENT ACCEPTED BY TGA (Australian Therapeutic Goods Adminstration) TO TREAT COVID 19

Fantastic news today worthy of celebration!

The Sydney outbreak could be under control much sooner with this treatment protocol. Get onto it peeps 👏👏
Australian GPs Can Legally Prescribe Ivermectin Triple Therapy Protocol — Professor Thomas Borody.

 

Truth : Australia Did NOT Approve Ivermectin Treatment For COVID-19!

This is really a rehash of the old, disputed ivermectin claims by Professor Thomas Borody.

Here are the FACTS about his Ivermectin Triple Therapy, and the WhatsApp message above :

Fact #1 : That Was From 19 August 2020

While the message claims to be “Fantastic news today”, it’s really OLD NEWS.

The article was posted in August 2020, after Professor Thomas Borody released his Ivermectin Triple Therapy protocol on 19 August 2020.

Fact #2 : TGA Did Not Approve Ivermectin For Use Against COVID-19

As of 8 August 2021 – almost a year later, Australia’s TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) have NOT approved ivermectin for use against COVID-19.

They also did NOT approve Professor Borody’s ivermectin triple therapy for use against COVID-19, either as a treatment or a prophylaxis.

The Australian Department of Health advised that (as of 1 June 2021), ivermectin, doxycycline and zinc should only be used in “properly conducted clinical trials with appropriate ethical approval”.

Fact #3 : TGA Opened An Investigation Into His Claim

Right after Professor Borody issued that press statement, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) opened an investigation, as it may potentially breach the ban on advertising COVID-19 treatments.

In February 2021, the TGA ordered former Australian senator David Leyonhjelm to take down his tweet advertising ivermectin. As his case showed, the TGA forbids :

  • all advertising of therapeutic goods containing the active ingredient ivermectin
  • making claims or representations in advertisements for any therapeutic goods that those goods [ivermectin] have any effect on COVID-19 (including that said therapeutic goods are capable of preventing, treating or alleviating COVID-19).

Fact #4 : Ivermectin Triple Therapy Not Proven To Work

The Australian Department of Health also pointed out that Professor Borody’s Ivermectin Triple Therapy protocol has not been proven to be safe or effective against COVID-19.

There is currently insufficient evidence to support the safe and effective use of ivermectin, doxycycline and zinc (either separately, or in combination) for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.

More robust, well-designed clinical trials are needed before they could be considered an appropriate treatment option.

Fact #5 : Borody Was Working On Patentable Ivermectin Triple Therapy

Back in August 2020, Professor Borody announced that he was involved in a Phase 2 study in the US to potentially develop the triple therapy as a single “blister pack” compliance product.

This appears to be a patentable ivermectin triple therapy product by Topelia Therapeutics, with the study funded and run by ProgenaBiome.

Professor Borody has “corporate affiliation” with both ProgenaBiome LLC and Topelia Therapeutics.

Fact #6 : Borody Phase 2 Trial Stalled

Professor Borody’s Phase 2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT04482686) appears to have stalled.

Despite kicking off on 22 July 2020, it was still in the Recruiting stage, as of their last update – 14 May 2021, even though they were supposed to start the trial on 9 December 2020!

Fact #7 : Borody Switched To An Even Smaller Trial

After the Phase 2 trial stalled, Professor Borody moved to an even smaller trial, whose results were released on 7 July 2021 as a pre-print (not peer-reviewed).

The study reported “a highly effective ICT (Ivermectin Combination Therapy) which led to 100% survival and cure” in “moderately to severely ill COVID-19 patients with hypoxia”.

However, there are a few immediate concerns over that study :

  • It was a very small study, with just 24 participants – two of whom refused the treatment.
  • It was not a randomised controlled trial – the researchers picked who could participate
  • It was not a double-blinded trial, so patients knew they were receiving the ICT, not a placebo
  • The subjects were treated remotely, so compliance is uncertain.
  • The subjects were asked to self-monitor and self-record symptoms, and medical readings (EKG, blood pressure, temperature and SpO2), so accuracy of those data is uncertain.
  • The subjects were asked to perform their own swab tests for SARS-CoV-2, so test accuracy is uncertain.

Fact #8 : Australian GPs Always Had Right To Prescribe Off-Label

Professor Borody claimed that the release of his Ivermectin Triple Therapy allows Australian GPs to legally prescribe ivermectin. That’s not true.

Australian doctors have long had the ability to prescribe medicine off-label. As Richard Day in Australian Prescriber notes :

There is no legal impediment to prescribing off label, however the onus is on the prescriber to defend their prescription for an indication that is not listed in the product information.

Fact #9 : Ivermectin Did Not Help Australia Control Pandemic

When Professor Borody claimed that ivermectin could end the COVID-19 pandemic in 6-8 weeks, Australia was already handling the pandemic very well though contact tracing, interstate border closures, travel bans, as well as curfews and lockdowns.

They maintained a very low number of cases over the last 11 months, even without using Professor Borody’s Ivermectin Triple Therapy.

Fact #10 : Ivermectin Did Not Help Other Countries Control COVID-19

To be fair to Professor Borody, Australians ignored his Ivermectin Triple Therapy.

So let’s take a look at India and Peru where pro-Ivermectin proponents claim have successfully controlled COVID-19 with ivermectin.

Despite the use of ivermectin, India suffered a massive and disastrous wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths from March 2021 onwards. That’s why India stopped using ivermectin on 27 March 2021.

Peru continues to suffer high numbers of COVID-19 cases over the last 18 months. Does it look like ivermectin is working for them???

Read more : India Drops Ivermectin, HCQ + Favipiravir As COVID-19 Drugs!

Fact #11 : Ivermectin Triple Therapy Fuelling Online Scams

Ivermectin and ivermectin protocols like I-MASK+ (from the FLCCC) and Borody’s own Ivermectin Triple Therapy, have NOT been proven to work against COVID-19.

Unfortunately, Professor Borody’s promotion of his ivermectin triple therapy protocol has allowed online scams to proliferate.

Case in point – the Ziverdo Kit online scam, which is made by Windlas Biotech in India using the same combination of ivermectin, doxycycline and zinc that Borody recommended.

Even though this combination only only US$2 per kit, scammers are selling at highly inflated prices to gullible people online.

Read more : Scam Alert : Ziverdo Kit To Treat COVID-19!

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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