- Dr George Coetzee took the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to court in a bid to approve and allow the use of ivermectin in the treatment on Covid-19.
- Coetzee says patients who are gravely ill with Covid-19 have nothing left to lose and should be able to decide themselves if they want to try ivermectin.
- National health department spokesperson Popo Maja maintained that while some studies suggested ivermectin may be of benefit in managing Covid-19, the evidence available is "preliminary and of low quality".
The doctor who went to court over the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19 wants to give his very sick patients the choice and a fighting chance.
Dr George Coetzee, two of his patients, and AfriForum took the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to court in a bid to approve and allow the use of ivermectin in the treatment of Covid-19.
Before the matter was heard in court, SAHPRA announced that they would allow the use of the drug in exceptional circumstances, in a controlled, compassionate access programme, through the use of a Section 21 application.
An interim settlement agreement was also reached, which would allow medical practitioners to treat Covid-19 using ivermectin without having to wait for the outcome of an application for approval.
Coetzee, who has been a doctor for 30 years, practicing in Pretoria, said he started doing research into the use of ivermectin after reading about positive results in its use against Covid-19 from all over the world.
Having treated patients in the first wave of SARS-Cov-2 infections which causes Covid-19, Coetzee said the second wave was far more catastrophic and that he was seeing between 40 and 60 patients a day who had tested positive.
"People were dying left, right and centre. It was massive," Coetzee said.
He added that with the strain in the hospitals, ambulances driving around with patients looking for an open bed, patients were left without options.
"Patients stand in front of you begging for help. Family members begging for help."
The effects of the second wave strengthened Coetzee's stance on the use of ivermectin, as the treatment of the symptoms and using vitamins, zinc and Disprin, were having little to no effect on sick patients.
He said:
For Coetzee, advocating for the use of ivermectin was a logical conclusion, arguing millions of people had used it.
Coetzee said the drug was safe to use in low doses in a controlled environment and should not be used as a prophylactic, nor should patients take it upon themselves to use the drug.
He also said he was not advocating for the use of the animal version of the drug.
During the second wave, Coetzee said he had patients who had died, and regretted not being able to help them while aware that ivermectin may have helped prevent their deaths.
"They were desperate, and I didn't test something that could have worked. I'm not saying it's the ultimate drug to beat Covid-19, but it shows promise and it's safe," Coetzee said.
He said:
Coetzee argued that gravely ill Covid-19 patients had "nothing else to lose".
He said that people should be able to decide for themselves if they wanted to try the treatment and that doctors should be given an opportunity to fight for their patients and not just watch them wither away helplessly.
"We just want to be given a fair shot at saving lives."
Despite SAHPRA's new stance on ivermectin, the National Essential Medicines List Committee's Covid-19 sub-committee said there was still insufficient evidence to recommend ivermectin for the treatment or prevention of Covid-19.
In a statement last week, national health department spokesperson Popo Maja maintained that while some studies suggested that ivermectin may be of benefit in managing Covid-19, the evidence available was "preliminary and of low quality".
Maja said:
Maja added that several studies were under way, looking into the efficacy and safety of ivermectin in the management of Covid-19, and that the studies' findings would provide the department with more scientific data to make informed decisions about ivermectin.
"As new data becomes available, the sub-committee will continuously review and amend the recommendations accordingly."
"In the meantime, we discourage the use of ivermectin outside of well-conducted randomised controlled trials."