(BERNARD TAGUINOD)

PINAYAGAN na ng Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ang produksyon ng Ivermectin kaya legal na ito at walang dahilan para ipagbawal itong gamitin sa COVID-19 patients at bilang proteksyon sa nasabing virus.

Ito ang pahayag ni Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor na nakatakdang mamigay ng libreng Ivermectin sa mamamayan ng Lungsod Quezon na isa sa may pinakamataas na COVID-19 cases sa National Capital Region (NCR).

“Pinayagan na ng FDA to produce so legally allowed siya,” ani Defensor sa mga mamamahayag sa Kamara.

Base sa dokumento na ibinahagi sa mga mamamahayag, noong Marso 29, ay inilabas na ng FDA sa pamamagitan nina Cristal Julle B. Dolendo at Michael E. Galang ang “temporarily stop production of affected product line/s and/or batches (Ivermectin)”.

“Yung FDA approval is to register your brand. Parang sa rubber shoes – Adidas. Pero Ivermectin is not hard to make. Even YouTube has a video on it,” ayon pa kay Defensor.

Ayon sa mambabatas. Maraming pag-aaral na epektibo at safe and Ivermectin laban sa COVID-19 kaya walang dahilan para harangin ang paggamit nito lalo na ngayong lumalala ang kaso sa bansa.

“Im saying might from the US-FDA perspective but based on clinical studies and reviews by experts and scientists, it can improve mortality death by 76%. Eh kung safe naman at baka makatulong eh bakit nila haharangin,” ani Defensor.

Sa panig naman ni Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera, walang dahilan para harangin ang paggamit sa Ivermectin dahil sa kawalan umano ng clinical trial sa bansa gayung ang ibang gamot tulad ng Remdisivir ay wala rin nito.

“Tociluzimab, Remdisivir have no local clinical trials but we use it in our country. What makes Ivermectin different? Ang dami [nang] foreign clinical trials (Ivermectin),” ani Herrera.

“Pati nga Lin Hua pwede pag may Covid symptoms eh kabago-bago nyan. Ito (Ivermectin) 40 years na with 3.7B people and no significant adverse effect (16 since 92) to date. Dont get me wrong, I drank Linhua, but if there are compounding labs then its best to monitor and regulate instead of killing supply which results to illegal production, smuggling and increase of prices,” ayon naman kay Defensor.

SINUPALPAL

Kaugnay nito, sinupalpal ni Defensor si AKO Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., matapos sabihin na base lang umano sa “conspiracies, speculations and opinions” ang pagtutulak sa paggamit ng Ivermectin bilang gamot sa COVID-19.

Hindi pinalagpas ni Defensor ang aniya’y hindi makatuwirang alegasyon ni Garbin, chairman ng House committee on constitutional amendment na nagtutulak ng Charter Change (Cha-Cha) sa Kamara.

“I would have let your statement pass, if not for your unfair accusation that we are basing our stance on conspiracies, speculation and opinion. Myself, Cong (Bernadette) Herrera, Cong (Eric) Pineda, Cong (Dante) Marcoleta, Cong Lacson, Cong Ong and many others have studied this issue since the hearing conducted by the Committee on Health,” ani Defensor kay Garbin.

Sinabi ni Defensor na nang magsagawa ng public hearing ang House committee on health, inimbitahan ang mga medical expert na nagpresenta ng kanilang pag-aaral na epektibo ang Ivermectin sa pagkontrol sa COVID-19.

“The Linhua medicine was allowed to be used for COVID-19 symptoms and yet they cracked down on compounding laboratories for producing drugs that has been used for 40 years by 3.7B people with 16 recorded adverse effect were shut down,” dagdag pa ni Defensor.

“Lastly, it is a very, very safe drug and we should be allowed to make a choice. I took Ivermectin and I was able to survive Covid. I am sorry if you feel that way regarding our position but I cannot in conscience allow the 13,435 deaths due to Covid to increase uncontrollably knowing that there is a possible solution,” dagdag pa ni Defensor.

Hindi naman kinontra ni Defensor ang pahayag ni Garbin na ipokus ang atensyon sa vaccination rollout at ayuda sa mga tao upang makawala na ang bansa sa pandemya na dulot ng COVID-19.