{"id":258811,"date":"2020-06-21T03:21:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T07:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=258811"},"modified":"2020-06-21T03:21:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T07:21:36","slug":"doh-warns-of-adverse-effects-from-misuse-of-dexamethasone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/21\/doh-warns-of-adverse-effects-from-misuse-of-dexamethasone\/","title":{"rendered":"DOH warns of adverse effects from misuse of dexamethasone"},"content":{"rendered":"

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She said the dexamethasone drug is not a cure for Covid-19 and is only used to “support the treatment” of the disease. (Pexels photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Health authorities clarified that the steroid drug dexamethasone is not a “miracle pill” for the treatment of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).<\/p>\n

Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Saturday the use of the drug without proper prescription from a licensed physician may cause some adverse effects on one’s health.<\/p>\n

“Kasi baka isipin po ng ating mga kababayan na magic pill ito, na kapag ininom natin ito ay hindi na tayo magkakaroon ng Covid-19 o di kaya mapi-prevent nito na mahawa tayo. Hindi po totoo iyon<\/em>\u00a0(Our people might think this is a magic pill, that we will no longer acquire Covid-19 once we take this drug or it will prevent us from being infected. That is not true),” Vergiere said in a virtual presser.<\/p>\n

She said the dexamethasone drug is not a cure for Covid-19 and is only used to “support the treatment” of the disease.<\/p>\n

Vergeire added that the drug is used only inside the hospital, citing the article that the dexamethasone was used to treat severe and critical patients who needed oxygen during hospitalization.<\/p>\n

The DOH raised alarm over reports that the drug dexamethasone is being sold online.<\/p>\n

“Marami po kaming ulat na natanggap na ito ay binebenta sa social media at sa mga online platforms. Pinapaalalahanan po natin ang publiko na ito ay pinagbabawal<\/em>\u00a0(we have received many reports that it is being sold on social media and online platforms. We are reminding the public that this is prohibited),” Vergeire said.<\/p>\n

She warned the public against the unregulated use of dexamethasone without proper medical prescription and doctor’s advice.<\/p>\n

Vergeire urged the public not to purchase the drug in any social media outlet and other online platforms.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also issued an advisory Friday that the dexamethasone should be strictly used under the supervision of a licensed physician.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe drug should be only dispensed by licensed establishments to patients with valid prescriptions. The sale of unregistered dexamethasone or sale of the drug without a valid prescription or through online platforms is strictly prohibited,\u201d the FDA advisory stated.<\/p>\n

FDA warned that the misuse or unsupervised chronic use of the steroid drug may lead to serious adverse reactions which include: immunosuppression or impairment of the body\u2019s ability to fight infections; gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers; electrolyte imbalance; osteoporosis; muscle weakness; poor wound healing; prolonged use of the drug may cause suppression of growth among infants and children; and obesity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf stopped abruptly, it may cause withdrawal symptoms such as hypotension, shock and coma,\u201d the FDA added.<\/p>\n

The FDA called on the public to report dispense or use of the steroid drug without valid prescription via email to cdrr.od@fda.gov.ph, “for any observed adverse reactions with the use of the drug, seek medical attention immediately and report to the FDA”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Health authorities clarified that the steroid drug dexamethasone is not a “miracle pill” for the treatment of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":258510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-lade-jean-kabagani","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258812,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258811\/revisions\/258812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}