Yesterday as I was finishing an appointment I could hear my receptionist’s frustration as she was struggling with a phone call. I wasn’t certain about the details, just the frustration in her voice. The caller was put on hold and I got one of those looks. The deer in the headlights kind where you know you don’t want to be involved but have no choice.
I’d seen this client’s dog the previous day (a friend had brought the dog so I never got to speak to the owner). She wanted to know if I would prescribe Ivermectin for her. Yep, for her, not for her dog. What followed was a discussion that was so frustrating I never actually got to tell her that vets cannot legally prescribe medication for humans.
It seems her daughter in law had told her that she needed to get some just in case she got COVID. She’s been vaccinated and I think she wears masks (I’m not certain, my head turned to mush sometime during the call so some details are sketchy). I explained to her that I was under the impression that the quantity required to inhibit the virus in vitro would require blood levels quite in excess of the level required for it to get through the blood brain barrier in amounts that are toxic. I explained that it was a neurotoxin and could cause fun stuff like seizures, coma, and death. Her response left me feeling I may as well have told her lemonade is a cool refreshing beverage.
During the conversation I learned that there was a website where you could consult a doctor and get a prescription (I’m not certain why she was asking for one from yours truly, but didn’t throw that out there either — I was busy trying to keep my cool). She couldn’t recall the doctor’s name but had a link in an email from her daughter in law. I avoided answering some of her questions at this point as I knew my responses weren’t going to achieve the desired result. Instead I told her I was interested in seeing this website and asked her to forward the link to my email.
She said she’d get right on it. This was Thursday morning. It was a rather busy day so I did not get a chance to check my email until later in the evening. She hadn’t sent one.
Today I got an email from her:
Hello, Just to followup on our phone conversation. I was able to get ivermectin through an online doctor. The dosage goes by your weight and is in pill form. So for me it is 27mg a day for 5 days, and for my husband it is 15 mg a day for 5 days. I did not realize what you have is in different form. I do not know if I would use it, but at least I have it on hand. I sent you some information on it yesterday. Not sure if you received it. Anyway, would love to know if this sounds better to you as far as dosing.
I never received anything. I still haven’t told her that I cannot advise her on this matter. I sent a request for that link again. I’m still waiting.
I’m thinking my final answer to her needs to be something akin to:
I am not legally permitted to prescribe medication or give medical advice to people. My license limits my practice to the treatment of animals. As I stated in our phone call the other day, it is my understanding that the in vitro study results indicate a need for a blood level that is many times greater than the safe dose. The end result would require hospitalization. My recommendation is that you should consult your family physician or a doctor affiliated with one of the local hospital facilities instead of one from the internet.
Oh my goodness! I never expected the traffic, recs and comments that this diary has generated. Thank you all for reading and commenting. As of 8:51 p.m. I have not received a link from the client. I suspect some folks in here have already seen or are aware of it, but until I get a link from the client I am not going to give a full response to her regarding my feelings. From some of the comments the side effects of a therapeutic dose are rather unpleasant. I’ll have to do some looking and will forward links to her with disclaimers regarding my legal limitations.
Monday, Aug 30, 2021 · 6:15:50 AM +00:00
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Southern White Boy
Still no reply with a link to the web page where she got her prescription. What I do know is that the dose she was prescribed is 27mg daily for 5 days. From what I could find the typical doses are given for a single day. I’ve advised her that I cannot prescribe or treat humans. I did recommend that she make herself familiar with the potential side effects of Ivermectin and provided a link with the gory details. I recommended that she consult her regular physician, if she has one, about the matter.