Unlicensed COVID-19 drug offered for sale at Elephant & Castle
An unproven COVID-19 treatment not licensed in the UK is being advertised for sale in an Elephant & Castle shop.
The Latin Shop at the Tiendas del Sur shopping arcade on the Draper Estate is displaying a poster in Spanish advertising the sale of ivermectin as a "very effective" treatment for COVID-19.
Stuart Ritchie of King's College London wrote recently in the New Statesman: "It could easily be that, once the high-quality trial data comes in, we discover that ivermectin is useful under some circumstances. But there's simply no basis for saying that at present."
Last month former cabinet minister Chris Grayling tabled a written question in the House of Commons about the use of ivermectin to tackle COVID-19.
Health minister Jo Churchill replied: "The Department [of Health] has monitored a collection of small studies which have now completed and provided some positive signals on the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19.
"However, larger scale studies are still needed to confirm the effectiveness and safety of this treatment.
"The Therapeutics Taskforce is aware that several more studies into ivermectin are set to conclude in the next few months and will continue to monitor these ongoing trials to assess the evidence available on whether ivermectin is an effective treatment for COVID-19.
Earlier this year the Scottish Government said in response to a freedom of information request that "Ivermectin is licensed for use as a topical cream in the treatment of rosacea in adult patients in the UK.
"It is currently not licensed for use in the treatment of COVID-19 symptoms in the UK and it should not be used by patients to self-medicate for prevention of the virus."
