Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked
October 25, 2021
LINK on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKa3EZqofNo
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
· One paper compared Merck's
data on molnupiravir against peer-reviewed data on ivermectin and found
ivermectin has a low side effect profile, costs less than molnupiravir and is
more effective against SARS-CoV-2
· Clinical Trials data show Merck
gathered 1,850 participants but released data on only 762 in the
non-hospitalized arm of the study. The study with hospitalized patients
anticipated 1,300 participants, but enrolled 304 before terminating for
"business reasons"
· Merck has applied for emergency
use authorization for molnupiravir against COVID-19. Some are excited about an
antiviral that may be effective against the virus, but the exclusion criteria
for participants in the study may mean few will qualify to take the drug
· For many, prophylaxis and
early treatment do not require prescription medication. Optimize your vitamin D
level to help prevent the illness, and use nebulized hydrogen peroxide after
exposure or in combination with nutraceuticals for early treatment
In the video
above retired nurse lecturer John Campbell, Ph.D., reports on a comparative
analysis of molnurpirivir and ivermectin published in the Austin Journal of
Pharmacology and Therapeutics.1 The first is Merck's new antiviral drug and
the second is the much vilified and maligned2,3 antiparasitic drug
used in humans since 19874 and approved for human use in the U.S. in
1996.5,6
Campbell
compares the efficacy, safety and cost using available data for ivermectin
published in peer reviewed studies and the first interim data for molnupiravir
published by Merck. Molnupiravir, also known as EIDD-2801/MK-44827 has data published as
early as October 2019 that showed it was a clinical candidate for monotherapy
in influenza viruses.8
And yet,
Merck's investigation into the oral antiviral medication against SARS-CoV-2 was
not logged with Clinical Trials until October 5, 2020.9 While Gilead raced to
release remdesivir, posting their first clinical trial February 5, 2020,10 Merck appeared to be
slow off the mark. Gilead suspended or terminated the early trials for
remdesivir. The reasons given included:
·
"The epidemic of COVID-19 has been controlled
well at present, no eligible patients can be recruited."11
·
"The epidemic of COVID-19 has been controlled
well in China, no eligible patients can be enrolled at present."12
The advantage
molnupiravir has over remdesivir is that it is administered orally and can be
used for early treatment in an outpatient setting. However, as we review the
comparison between the drugs, it's important to remember that the early data on
molnupiravir has been published in a press release.13
How Do Ivermectin and
Molnupiravir Stack Up Against COVID-19?
In the video
Campbell reviews a paper published in the Austin Journal of Pharmacology and
Therapeutics14 that was a chemical comparison of the pharmacological effects of
molnupiravir and ivermectin. Looking at the two ways science uses to develop
new treatments when a new condition arises,15 Campbell explains the
first is to create a new drug and the second is to repurpose medications used
for other conditions.
For example,
aspirin originally was used to treat fever. Once it became evident that it was
also effective against pain, doctors began recommending it to relieve headaches
and other minor aches and pains. Subsequently, it was found that aspirin was an
effective antiplatelet, as well, and this function was added to the known uses
for aspirin.
According to
the paper,16 Ivermectin is the
"most studied, 'repurposed' medication globally, in randomized clinical
trials, retrospective studies and meta-analysis." Ivermectin is an
FDA-approved, broad spectrum antiparasitic17 with known
anti-inflammatory properties.18
As Campbell
reviews, an in vitro study19 demonstrated that a single treatment with
ivermectin effectively reduced viral load 5,000 times in 48 hours in cell
culture. By comparison, Merck claims molnupiravir is a broad-spectrum antiviral
that is active against the Gamma, Delta and Mu SARS-CoV-2 variants.20
The data in the
comparison paper show molnupiravir is more potent in-vitro than ivermectin,21 which means it needs
less drug to work with a lower tissue concentration.22 The amount of time
the maximum drug dose is found in the serum is one to 1.75 hours for
molnupiravir and four to six hours for ivermectin.
Interestingly,
the half-life for Merck's drug is seven hours and the half-life for ivermectin
is 81 to 91 hours. This is the amount of time it takes for your body to reduce
the active ingredients in the drug by half. Campbell also reviews the following
factors:
•Safety — No matter how well a
drug works, if it's not safe for use, it cannot be effective. Offering some
examples of how ivermectin's safety compares to other drugs, according to
Campbell23 the global database
of the World Health Organization, VigiBase, recorded 5,593 adverse events from
ivermectin after 3.7 billion doses were administered to humans.
For comparison,
VigiBase recorded 136,222 adverse events for amoxicillin and 165,479 for
ibuprofen. At this time there is no VigiBase data available for molnupiravir,
so no comparisons can be made for that drug yet. To take the example one step
further, an outside look at acetaminophen adverse events shows that this drug
(aka Tylenol) is many times more dangerous than ivermectin.
In the U.S.
alone24 the National
Institutes of Health's STATPearls manual reports that there are 2,600
hospitalizations, 56,000 emergency room visits and 500 deaths each year for
acetaminophen overdoses as of July 2021. And, the drug is the second leading
cause of liver transplantation worldwide and the leading cause of transplantation
in the U.S.
•Efficacy — According to interim
data from Merck,25 molnupiravir reduced hospitalizations or deaths by 50% in 385
participants who had at least one risk factor associated with poor disease
outcome. A meta-analysis of 15 trials26 that included 2,438
participants demonstrated that ivermectin could reduce the risk of death by
62%.
According to an
ongoing collection from published data,27 across all studies
ivermectin is 86% effective prophylactically, 66% effective in early treatment
and 36% effective in late treatment. By comparison, a Cochrane review of the
literature28 that Campbell
references in the video found the data did not determine if ivermectin leads to
more or less infections, worsened or improved infection, or increased or decreased
unwanted events.
•Cost — According to a Forbes
report,29 the raw material for
the active pharmaceutical ingredients in molnupiravir costs about $2.50 per
treatment. The cost of manufacturing the product would be $20, which is 35
times less than the price set by Merck of $700 per treatment. Additionally,
Forbes reports that initially the drug will be purchased using federal funds.
According to
the treatment protocol by the FLCCC,30 ivermectin is dosed
at 0.4 to 0.6 mg/kg of body weight per dose once daily for five days. For an
average person 160 pounds (72.5 kg), the dose is 29 mg to 43.5 mg per day for
five days.
The average
cost for 30 tablets of 3 mg of ivermectin in the U.S. can run as high as $108
or as little as $29.72 with a drug discount program — a fraction of
molnupiravir's prices.31
Peer Reviewed Study May
Answer Molnupiravir Questions
As I mentioned,
according to the data released by Merck, molnupiravir reduced the risk of
hospitalization or death by 50% as compared to the placebo group.32 According to the
numbers in their study, 28 people in the intervention group died or were
hospitalized by Day 29 while 53 in the placebo treated group were hospitalized
or died.
Merck did not
identify the placebo in either their press release33 or in the Clinical
Trials data.34 Dr. James Lyons-Weiler also evaluated the results of the trial and
asked some very pertinent questions, such as:35
•Why were patients taking a placebo allowed to
die?
"When there is a vast amount of published
research on clear winners are the early treatment protocols as described by the
medical authorities on the matter? Merck and NIH allowed 14.1% of people in the
control arms to develop severe COVID-19 and die with no treatment. None. Just
placebo.
How did the NIH and the FDA let this happen in the
face of the evidence of efficacy of early treatment? How could they? Because
that's the standard of care for early COVID-19: go home, incubate, get sick,
and die if you must. But don't call us until you are seriously ill."
•Why are the number of participants low? — When the study was
first listed on Clinical Trials36 the team initially anticipated 1,450 patients
in a parallel phase 2/3 randomized, placebo-controlled study. This changed May
25, 2021, to 1,850 participants anticipated.37
At the
completion of the study when they were no longer recruiting participants, they
reported data on 762 participants in the press release38 from 173 locations.
What happened to the data from the rest of the participants?
•Why was the second study for hospitalized
patients terminated? — A second study39 was ongoing during
the same time period for hospitalized patients, having started October 5, 2020,
and last updated September 9, 2021.
They
anticipated enrolling 1,300 patients but terminated the study for
"business reasons" after enrolling 304. What happened to cause the
company to close this arm of the study after enrolling so few patients and what
happened to the data?
Lyons-Weiler is
a senior research scientist at the University of Pittsburgh.40 He also listed the
numerous exclusion criteria for participants in the study and went on to write:41
"If, by any stretch of reason, FDA approval is
made using the one interim analysis of (potentially) cherry-picked data in a
cherry-picked study published as a press release without peer review, ignoring
the data from the study not mentioned at all- their guidance should carry
restrictions disallowing the use of the drug on or by patients in all of the
excluded groups, including those who are hospitalized.
If by some miracle the rules on full reporting are
enforced for the buried molnupiravir trial, the identified data from the trials
need to be audited to make sure patients with an undesirable outcome under one
trial were not excluded because they were enrolled in another trial focused on
studying that same outcome. That would point to more scientific chicanery, and
we've all had more than enough of that."
CBS News42 reports that Merck
has asked U.S. regulators for emergency use authorization for the drug against
COVID-19. The decision could come in just a few weeks and "The FDA will
scrutinize company data on the safety and effectiveness of the drug,
molnupiravir, before rendering a decision." It is hoped the FDA has access
to all the data.
Do We Really Need a Vaccine
and a Treatment?
Although
Campbell adamantly defends the need for both a vaccine and treatment,43 he also points to
diseases such as the bubonic plague for which we have adequate treatment but do
not have a vaccine,44 even for areas of the world where it may have
greater incidence.45
Campbell also
believes that if there is a good quality antiviral medication, there would be
less of an impact from COVID in countries where the vaccine rollout is patchy.
And yet, data show that the
number of confirmed cases of COVID in countries where much of the population is
unvaccinated is not higher than in countries where nearly 100% have been given
the jab. For example, as of October 13, 2021, according to the CNN COVID-19
vaccination tracker46 and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource
Center:47
Country |
Vaccination Rate |
Infections |
Population48 |
% Population Infected |
Portugal |
86.4% |
1,075,639 |
10,196,709 |
10.5% |
United
Arab Emirates |
84.3% |
737,890 |
9,890,402 |
7.4% |
Spain |
79% |
4,977,448 |
46,754,778 |
10.6% |
Ireland |
74.6% |
404,514 |
4,937,786 |
8.1% |
United
States |
55.8% |
44,455,949 |
331,002,651 |
13.4% |
Russia |
39.9% |
7,687,559 |
145,934,462 |
5.2% |
Romania |
29% |
1,365,788 |
19,237,691 |
7% |
Indonesia |
21.1% |
4,228,552 |
273,523,615 |
1.5% |
India |
19.6% |
33,985,920 |
1,380,004,385 |
2.4% |
Vietnam |
16.4% |
843,281 |
97,338,579 |
0.86% |
Bangladesh |
11.1% |
1,562,958 |
164,689,383 |
0.9% |
Iraq |
7.1% |
2,024,705 |
40,222,493 |
5% |
Kenya |
1.9% |
251,248 |
53,771,296 |
0.4% |
Sudan |
1.3% |
38,827 |
43,849,260 |
0.088% |
In the past,
according to the CDC's definition, a vaccination program used a product that
"stimulates a person's immune system to a specific disease, protecting the
person from that disease."49 But today, CDC's new definition says vaccines
are only meant to "stimulate the body's immune response against
diseases."50 You'll note that the new definition says a vaccine isn't
responsible for stimulating the immune system or protecting against any
specific illness.
According to
COVID-19 statistics from the CDC,51 people over 65 carry the greatest burden of
mortality. In 2020 this population accounted for 80.7% of deaths and thus far
in 2021 this age range accounts for 71.2% of deaths in the U.S. However, these
percentages are highly skewed since, to date, large populations of people are
not offered or treated with successful protocols.
This begs the
question: How high has the CDC and FDA allowed the death rate to go by
suppressing effective treatments that are readily available and economical?
Prophylaxis and Early
Treatment May Not Require Medication
While
ivermectin has demonstrated it is a useful strategy, it's not my primary
recommendation. You don't necessarily need prescribed medication to help
prevent, and in the early treatment of, COVID-19.
I believe your
best option to fighting the onset of any disease is to optimize your vitamin D
level, as your body requires this for a wide variety of functions, including a
healthy immune response.52,53 Then, for early
treatment, or after you've been exposed to someone with COVID, I recommend using nebulized hydrogen
peroxide treatment.54
This treatment is
inexpensive, highly effective, can easily be done at home and is completely
harmless when you're using the low (0.04% to 0.1%) peroxide concentration
recommended. In the video below I demonstrate how to make a low concentration
of hydrogen peroxide at home and how to use your nebulizer. You'll find my interviews with Dr. Thomas
Levy55 and Dr. David Brownstein56 about
this treatment on Bitchute.
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/10/25/ivermectin-vs-molnupiravir.aspx?ui=07ba04847d3da606336f089f0969627d79f1e004acb37b25456d0c6b44805309&sd=20210406&cid_source=wnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art2ReadMore&cid=20211025Z2&mid=DM1020738&rid=1302254274 (Link tijdelijk beschikbaar om reden van censuur in de V.S.)
- Sources
and References
·
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·
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·
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·
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15 YouTube, October 5, 2021, Minute 3:13
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·
42 CBS News, October 11, 2021
·
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·
45 Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Plague
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47 Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
·
48 Worldometer, World Population,
Scroll near bottom and search tool on world population by country
·
49 CDC July 15, 2015
·
50 Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Immunization the Basics, September 1, 2021
·
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·
56 Bitchute, February 17, 2021