Ministry of Health warns of risks of using these drugs for COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health announced a list of medicines that the population should not use to treat COVID-19.

MEXICO (Times Media Mexico) – The Ministry of Health announced that Mexico had reached 65,816 deaths, and 610,957 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Also, patients infected with COVID-19 should follow a program and the correct medications; that is why it was presented a list of medications that should not be used to treat the disease.

 This information was shared by Dr. Ricardo Cortés Anaya and Dr. Hugo López-Gatell.

Medications that should not be prescribed for a COVID-19 condition are

• Hydroxychloroquine
• Ivermectin
• Tocilizumab
• Remdesivir

Medications that should not be prescribed for a mild case of COVID-19 are

• Dexamethasone
• Anticoagulants
• Antibiotics

After presenting the medicines, Hugo López-Gatell made a statement on their use, which has no scientific basis.

“We have highlighted hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, Tocilizumab, and Remdesivir because of the frequent perception that they could be effective or efficient medicines. These four drugs, for various reasons and due to various sources of information, none of them scientific, none of them technical, began to be disseminated among the group of doctors, physicians, and health professionals in Mexico and other countries of the world, as they were drugs that had proven their effectiveness. No,” clarified the Undersecretary of Health.

Then he shared what the effects and the uses that should be given to these medicines are.

Hydroxychloroquine
“Hydroxychloroquine is an ancient drug, originally designed to treat malaria and for many years used as an immunomodulator for the treatment of some autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, to name a few.”

Ivermectin
“Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug used for some ectoparasites, originally for veterinary use. Also, with certain dosage modifications, it is used in humans. It has a significant degree of toxicity, meaning that it causes significant side effects when used inappropriately, just like hydroxychloroquine”.

Tocilizumab
“Tocilizumab is an expensive, very expensive drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. These are the indications for use registered in Mexico and in most countries where these medications have been registered.

Remdesivir
“Remdesivir is an antiviral drug, with certain specific actions proposed as a possible treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection. It was tested in two published clinical trials and was not found to reduce death risk in people with severe SARS-CoV-2. Only one of these two trials found that it could have a very modest reduction, averaging three days in the length of hospitalization.

Lopez Gatell also detailed that remdesivir has been proposed to be considered in Mexico, but up to the moment, it does not have a sanitary registry to attend the COVID-19.

“Remdesivir has been proposed for sanitary registration in Mexico on two occasions, and Cofepris is still waiting for the company that holds the patent for this product to make a new approach with new evidence proposing or showing the potential effectiveness, but so far this has not happened, nor does it have a sanitary registration for the treatment of COVID,” Lopez Gatell concluded.