Australia’s medical regulator is investigating Senator Malcolm Roberts for a Facebook post advertising the services of a doctor who prescribes an unproven and unapproved COVID-19 treatment that the senator has repeatedly promoted.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration confirmed to Crikey it is looking into a June 3 Facebook post on the One Nation senator’s page that directed people to contact a doctor to prescribe ivermectin.
“The TGA is assessing the social media posts and will take action where there has been a breach of the advertising rules. We note that the Facebook post has been removed,” it said.
Ivermectin is a drug that has been promoted as curing COVID-19 but has not been approved or proven for this use. It’s frequently promoted by anti-vaccine groups as an alternative to vaccination.
Roberts’ post advertised the services of Dr Mark Hobart, a known anti-vaccine doctor, to prescribe ivermectin but stopped short of directly linking it to its use as a COVID-19 treatment.
“We’ve had requests from people for locating a doctor who prescribes ivermectin. Dr Mark Hobart in Melbourne does,” the post said, before listing the doctor’s contact details.
It is an offence under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 to advertise prescription-only medication without the permission of the TGA. Penalties range from a warning letter to civil or criminal charges.
Roberts has repeatedly extolled the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 on social media, in Senate estimates and in media interviews.
In a May 18 interview with 2SM’s Marcus Paul, Roberts said he’d used ivermectin in 2014 after being prescribed it by a doctor for a condition he developed during a trip to India. He questioned whether the generic drug wasn’t being prescribed because pharmaceutical companies aren’t making as much money from it as they are with patented COVID-19 vaccines.
“Why aren’t we using ivermectin when it’s completely safe? It’s got no side effects. It’s killed no one. And it’s also being proven as effective with the virus,” he said.
The government-funded medical information resource NPS MedicineWise lists ivermectin’s side effects including headaches, nausea and joint pain.
“At the moment, publicly available details about these cases and trials are limited or have not been peer-reviewed,” the website said. “So currently there is no clear information that confirms whether ivermectin works as a COVID-19 treatment.”
I used ivermectin for years. As a systemic treatment of sheep and cattle for intestinal parasites and lice. I’ve also used it to treat wombats with sarcoptic mange. Don’t know why it would be expected work on a virus.
It may be good for sarcoptic mange in wombats, but can it cure chronic stupid in Malcolm Roberts or Marilyn S?
just shows how equality is high in Australia, even a raving nutcase like Roberts can get elected, also shows how dumb and stupid the average voter is.
The really depressing thing is that the taxpayer is forking out 220k p.a. for this clown to sit there and spout absolute crap, contributing nothing of any worth whatsoever.
“Senators and members receive an annual allowance by way of basic salary—$211,250 from 1 July 2019.”
You’d have to surmise that the pay packet is a very large reason for why he is there. Probably a lot of ego too.
Bad dose of LMD.
What’s the criminal penalty for this offence? Does it carry a maximum penalty of 12 or more months in jail? Please please please, will the s44 Gods smile upon us?
Ah, no good. Max is fine of 60 penalty units, or $13,320
the TGA is wrong though, countries all over the world are using the drug, it’s been around for decades. The only reason big pharma don’t want it used is because it’s cheap and they miss out on profits.
With respect I think the reason it’s not being used to treat Covid is that it doesn’t work.
Malcolm is, I understand, a professionally qualified person who should know better. That he doesn’t seem to know better is not a great advert for the One Nation mob.