Hilton Head gym owner has promoted anti-parasitic drug to treat COVID-19, complaint alleges
The owner of a Hilton Head Island fitness center is facing a state investigation for allegedly promoting the use of an anti-parasitic drug to treat COVID-19 even though the drug has not been federally approved for that purpose, according to documents obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
An investigator from the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation has been assigned to look into a complaint that an island resident recently filed against Nathan Dixon, the owner of LAVA 24 Fitness, alleging that Dixon and his fitness center are “actively advocating” for people to use ivermectin, a deworming drug, to treat COVID-19, records show.
The Hilton Head resident lodged the complaint with state regulators on Aug. 24 after speaking with Dixon and taking photos of leaflets promoting ivermectin that were pinned to a bulletin board at the fitness center, according to the complaint.
“I am deeply concerned for the members and guests of the gym/wellness center. Many are young and impressionable,” the complaint reads.
Dixon did not immediately respond to written questions about the leaflets or his thoughts on ivermectin.
But in an Aug. 20 email, which was attached to the complaint, Dixon wrote that the leaflets “will save lives, if implemented.”
Ivermectin has been approved for use in humans to treat parasitic worms and skin conditions such as rosacea, but highly concentrated doses of the drug also are administered to horses and other animals.
U.S. health officials in recent weeks have become increasingly worried about people using ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19.
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved the drug for such purposes, but residents across the South are still ingesting it in an attempt to stave off the disease.
Some have been buying veterinary grade ivermectin and attempting to self-medicate, leading to a spike in phone calls to poison control centers, including in Mississippi and Texas.
Ivermectin overdoses can cause vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, dizziness, seizures, coma and death, according to the FDA.
Dr. Paul Byers, the top epidemiologist in Mississippi, told reporters on Aug. 25 that two people there had recently been hospitalized due to “ivermectin toxicity.”
“People have been taking livestock medication, and it’s highly dangerous,” Byers said. “If you need information about treatment of COVID, please talk to your doctor.”
The FDA, which has explicitly warned residents not to take ivermectin to treat COVID-19, in an Aug. 21 tweet added, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”
So why, exactly, are people using ivermectin when FDA-approved or -authorized coronavirus vaccines are widely available?
The anti-parasitic drug has been touted this year by conservative news personalities, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham. And a laboratory study from early 2020 found that ivermectin could inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, in cells.
But scientists argue that more information is still needed to accurately judge the effectiveness of the drug’s use against COVID-19, especially given the recent withdrawal of an Egyptian preprint study on ivermectin due to “widespread flaws in the data,” according to an article published in the journal Nature.
(The University of Oxford is currently investigating whether ivermectin is a possible treatment for the disease as part of a large clinical trial in the United Kingdom.)
“Any use of ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 should be avoided as its benefits and safety for these purposes have not been established,” the FDA has said.
Yet in South Carolina, three callers recently contacted the Palmetto Poison Center after taking the drug for COVID-19, said Jill Michels, managing director of the center.
Two of the people, Michels said, had used veterinary grade ivermectin.
“Don’t dose yourself. Don’t seek a prescription from any doctor who you don’t know,” she said.
