Japan warns against unauthorized use of COVID-19 drugs

Tokyo, Feb. 21 (Jiji Press) – A growing number of people in Japan are taking COVID-19 drugs that are not authorized for use in the country, a practice that draws a warning from officials public health.

The ministry of health warns people not to take such drugs without careful consideration as side effects from unlicensed medications may not be covered by government relief.

In November, a woman in her 40s in Shizuoka Prefecture took ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug manufactured by an Indian company and not approved as a COVID-19 treatment in Japan.

She ordered the drug through an import agent after gathering information including reading research papers available at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I bought it because I thought I had to take it, at my own risk, to prevent infection,” she said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]