FDA warns public vs unregistered drug cocktail touted online as potential COVID-19 remedy
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s Food and Drug Administration on Monday warned the public against the use of a drug cocktail as an anti-viral treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
FDA described as “baseless” claims that Prodex-B—drug combination of Procaine and Dexamethasone with Vitamin B—could treat a person infected with COVID-19.
The drug is also unregistered with the agency.
“Procaine is an anesthetic used to reduce pains on injections, while Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid which must be used cautiously due to its side effects including immunosuppresion or weaker immune system leading to vulnerability to infections,” FDA said.
“Unregistered drugs have no guaranteed quality, safety and efficacy data which may lead to patient harm,” the agency added.
Individuals who used Prodex-B were advised to monitor for any adverse reaction.
A change.org petition asking the Department of Health to test Prodex-B as a COVID-19 treatment cited doctors claiming the drug cocktail “can arrest” the new coronavirus.
“COVID-19, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, share similar symptoms with influenza and the drug cocktail Prodex-B is almost 100% successful against influenza and dengue which are viral diseases,” the online petition claimed.
The DOH on Sunday reported 343 new COVID-19 cases, marking the country’s largest daily increase in infections. This raised the nation’s total number of cases to 1,4018 with 71 deaths.
- Latest
- Trending
