New Delhi: In a widely observed trend, Indians are now self-prescribing and popping medicines, which are generally given to Covid-19 patients in hospital settings, immediately after testing positive or showing symptoms of coronavirus infection.
According to doctors at prominent hospitals, these patients land up in hospitals in later stages and confess to consuming “popular” or “known Covid drugs” such as hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), ivermectin, doxycycline and dexamethasone to prevent “severe” disease.
“Out of every 10 Covid patients, four of them come up to hospitals after venturing with one or two of the medicines used in the treatment of Covid. All these medicines should be taken in the hospital settings, under a trained physician. We have seen that people mostly self-prescribe ivermectin and doxycycline,” said Dr Yatin Mehta, chairman, critical care department at Medanta Hospital, Gurugram.
Over the last year, these medicines came into spotlight as possible treatment options for Covid. However, as clinicians started getting clarity about the course of the treatment for the novel disease, the role of these medicines was either curtailed or fixed for a certain illness in a specific time period.
With the second Covid wave rampaging in India now and beds and ICUs running short, the paranoia over catching severe disease is leading people to try these drugs.
Echoing a similar trend, Dr Kamna Kakkar, senior resident, ICUs, Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana, said, “Half of the Covid patients end up confessing that they did consume one or the other drug used in the treatment of Covid. The top list includes HCQ, ivermectin, and dexamethasone.”
She added: “As soon as people start showing symptoms of Covid or test positive, they just Google and start gulping down the drugs without realising that they might end up complicating their treatment and recovery process. Moreover, the national treatment protocols are for doctors and not for patients.”
Not just Google, but some people also gulp these drugs on advice from private practitioners or doctors known to them.
Dr Amandeep, president of the resident doctors’ association at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, said, “These are generally patients with mild symptoms. Those we have encountered usually take these drugs based on the advice from the local doctors or read it on Google.”
Also read: More 0-19-year-olds hospitalised, higher oxygen demand — how Covid 2nd wave differs from 1st
How such self-prescriptions are harmful
Self-consumption of medicines, however, can affect the natural course of treatment and also lead to patients reporting additional side-effects (which are not due to Covid) leading to further complications in recovery, said Mehta.
A case in point is a 32-year-old woman at Apollo Gleneagles in Kolkata. Doctors assessed her condition only to understand that she had been taking dexamethasone — a powerful steroid — at home, without prescription. Her CT scan showed “worsened Covid” and she is now battling for life in the intensive care unit (ICU), said Dr Chandrashish Chakravarty, consultant, Critical Care Medicine, Apollo Gleneagles.
“Several of such patients reach the emergency departments on a daily basis. Fearing Covid, they start consuming popular Covid drugs at home. While drugs cause their own side-effects, the patients end up losing the important treatment time leading to severe Covid,” he said.
Amandeep explained, “The drug, as well as its duration, is specific for a specific illness. Taking treatment without prescription can be harmful. For instance: dexamethasone, which is a steroid, if taken for a long time can have harmful effects and can cause osteoporosis, immunosuppression, and deranged blood glucose. One needs to be very cautious in starting treatment on your own.”
Self-prescription of HCQ can be life-threatening as it may cause abnormal heart rhythms or dangerously rapid heart rate. Similarly, parasite drug ivermectin, according to the USFDA, has the potential to cause decrease in white cell count and elevated liver tests apart from causing other general side effects.
The US health regulator has also cautioned on its website to “not take any medicine to treat or prevent COVID-19 unless it has been prescribed to you by your health care provider and acquired from a legitimate source”.
Overload of information
Doctors are facing stress related to the massive information available online or in the public domain leading patients and their families to ask for a certain type of prescription.
“Every patient or their families talk about their Ct score. They all want us to prescribe remdesivir or favipiravir. It seems like everyone has become a doctor to treat Covid,” said Mehta, who has been working in the Covid ward at Medanta since last year.
“How should we clarify that Ct values have not been validated but it is Ct Severity Scores (CTSS) that can tell you about the severity,” he added.
Kakkar has seen her patients “consuming medicines that are mostly mentioned in the national treatment protocol, easily available online”.
“There is a lot of information available online. However, I would request patients and their families to trust their treating doctor. It is difficult for us to make everyone understand which treatment protocol is latest and which one is dated,” she said.
Also read: DRDO reopens makeshift Covid hospital in Delhi, 5 other facilities to come up across India
Lot of doctors started their channel in youtube and helping patients online on free of cost by seeing the current deaths in India.
Almost all online doctors saying that, if oxygen level goes down below 94 or 90, then you are in danger and they recommend to take steroid from day one, as this new strain causing lung damage with in 5 days.
They want us to do respiratory exercise, eat food with nutrients, vitamins every 2 hours and drink 8 litres of water per day.
Online doctors wants us to battle with covid strongly from day one to bring the oxygen level back to normal and then start boosting immune system with vitamin capsules and soon.
Currently in Indian, only solution is home isolation, there is no hope left on hospitals.
First of govt fails in all circumstances, and condition is out of control for them and our health system
I have not read that ivermectin can cause lower while blood count-that is a new one on me. My white blood count has, in fact, increased since i’ve been on ivermectin.
Even doctors are prescribing everything from day one. Vitamin c is being given at thrice the upper toleration limit.
There is no local doctors Available right now as they all are in isolation themselves. Only “youtube” and “Facebook” doctors are left to listen to us.
Nonetheless, this article is full of confusion. If local Doctor prescribe those medicine what a patient can do? Every body can’t afford to visit Apollo or Medanta.
Rubbish post.
Nonetheless, this article is full of confusion. If local Doctor prescribe those medicine what a patient can do? Everybody can’t afford to visit Apollo or Medanta.
Rubbish post.
Bull shit what doctors and hospital can do if there is no bed and ventilators people dont have any others option except self medication
Docs should thank people for taking their lives into their own hands. I’m sure the reporter hasn’t visited any hospital for covid treatment recently or he might have had a contra view
Very poorly researched article. Scores of studies have clearly shown the benefit of steroids in covid. In US, medical lobby was forced to accept this. Infact this is the only cheapest home based treatment possible. The same hospitals are prescribing the same.
Sorry but this is a poorly researched article putting all the blame on people who are scared and are willing to try anything to get better, people may be taking these medicines without consulting a doctor themselves, but these were prescribed by a doctor to SOMEONE to begin with. I have had COVID, so did my dad, didn’t consult a doctor for myself because I had mild symptoms, but consulted for my dad due to his age and BP, he was prescribed these VERY SAME medicines that the doctors in the articles are frowning upon. Thankfully he recovered without taking any of these medicines, just took vitamins and paracetamol for fever. Now my Aunt is down with COVID, thankfully mild symptoms again, she is also sticking only to vitamins, had her first vaccine dose 23 days before symptoms showed up so maybe that is helping too. Even I developed mild fever after she tested positive, consulted a doctor, was prescribed the same medicines again. So no, it’s not all SELF PRESCRIBED, it’s just that SO MANY PEOPLE have been told to take the same medicines irrespective of their age, gender, comorbidities, etc that people know what the doctor is gonna prescribe beforehand. That being said, I don’t condone self medication, but maybe the blame does not squarely lie on the people alone.
Dear doctors/ consultants! The self prescription of treatment for Covid is alarming, yet not very dangerous. All the medicines except possibly dexamethasone are very safe, dexamethasone given for 5days without tapering off too is okay. We don’t have facilities to handle so many patients. Frankly speaking, most of the doctors prefer prescribing on telephone or mobile, rather than entertaining the patients physically.
Dear Doctors/Consultants,
I agree with Awani. Since there are no beds in the hospital…many clinics have closed and are rather avoiding patients in many localities what will a patient or there loved ones would do in such situation? Also, how will a common man know if the locality doctors prescribed medicines are not effective or rather can cause side effects? Please give the solution?