Lawmaker says to take fall for ‘ivermectin pantry’ flubs
MANILA, Philippines — One of the lawmakers behind the distribution of the unregistered antiparasitic drug ivermectin to some 200 Quezon City residents said Saturday he and his fellow lawmaker would take the blame for any missteps that may have happened at their so-called “pantry.”
“If there was anything wrong with our distribution of this COVID-19 wonder drug ivermectin, we are the ones answerable, not our volunteer doctors and other medical practitioners who just wanted to help our poor people,” Rep. Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan party-list) said.
He said this as he appealed to the Department of Health to spare the doctors who volunteered to give out prescriptions for the drug which is still unproven for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
The prescriptions for ivermectin handed out to the beneficiaries did not contain the doctors’ names, license numbers and professional tax receipt numbers as required by law.
These “token prescriptions” must be investigated by the Food and Drug Administration, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
The DOH also said that it will endorse reports of invalid prescriptions to the Professional Regulation Commission “to investigate the veracity of the reports and impose sanctions as deemed necessary based on existing laws.”
While he said the FDA must investigate the prescriptions, Duque and DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said there may be nothing illegal with Defensor and Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta’s (Sagip party-list) distribution of ivermectin as long as they followed exemptions set by the regulator. — with a report from Gaea Katreena Cabico
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