GP scripted parasite pills for Covid-19

A doctor who prescribed a high dose of the parasite drug Ivermectin to treat Covid-19, and gave a patient a fake Covid vaccination exemption, says questions over her practice amount to a ‘‘witch hunt’’.

Stuff obtained a script, signed by Nelson general practitioner Dr Caroline Wheeler, prescribing her patient a five-day course of Ivermectin. A receipt shows that the prescription was filled by an online pharmacy.

In New Zealand, Ivermectin is approved for use in humans to treat an intestinal disease caused by roundworm (strongyloidiasis), certain parasites in blood or tissue, or for scabies after prior treatment has failed.

University of Wollongong epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz pointed to a recently updated Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis concluding that ‘‘there is low- to highcertainty evidence that Ivermectin has no beneficial effect for people with Covid19’’.

‘‘While low-quality studies tend to show a benefit, highquality clinical research has provided increasingly strong evidence that Ivermectin is unlikely to be beneficial in the treatment of Covid-19, while the jury is still out on Ivermectin for prevention of the disease, as the studies are not very good,’’ MeyerowitzKatz said.

Paperwork shows Wheeler also gave her patient a Covid vaccination exemption form on the same day, downloaded from anti-vaccination website PROMIC. The exemption is not recognised by the Ministry of Health.

Wheeler said in an interview that Stuff ’s questions were a ‘‘witch hunt’’, and that publication of her name would put her career at risk.

‘‘I’m going to get the force of the law against you. If you want me to lose my registration, or deregister me . . . We have already lost goodness knows how many doctors who have spoken up about the vaccine, and they have been deregistered for going against the Government policy.’’

According to the Medical Council of New Zealand, three doctors were suspended for Covid-related issues by the latest date provided, June 2021, while investigations into 17 others were continuing.

Later, responding by email, Wheeler said she had researched studies and reports to provide her patients with information ‘‘so they can make informed decisions about what is best for them’’.

The prescribing of Ivermectin for Covid19 was ‘‘repurposed’’ prescribing, Wheeler said. ‘‘In a crisis, many doctors and other experts prefer to repurpose safe, wellknown drugs rather than experiment with new drugs.’’

(While Ivermectin’s use in treating parasites is well known, and earned its researchers a Nobel Prize for their part in almost eliminating the parasitic disease river blindness, it is not proven as a treatment for Covid-19.)

‘‘There was certainly an argument to use repurposed medications without much evidence behind them in early 2020, because we had no other option, but it has been well over two years since then,’’ Meyerowitz-Katz said.

‘‘We now have a number of large, reasonably robust randomised trials on Ivermectin which have failed to show a benefit from the medication, while there are other treatments that are much better evidenced.’’

Wheeler said issuing vaccine exemptions was briefly permissible under New Zealand’s Public Health Response Act.

She was one of 32 doctors, 100 nurses and 187 allied health professionals who last year signed an open letter casting doubt on the Covid-19 vaccine.

The GP, who has also been known as Yashu Wheeler, is from Britain. According to her LinkedIn profile, she obtained her medical qualification from the University of Manchester, and started a GP practice in Nelson in 1995.

Her website states that after 14 years of practice, she made the switch to integrative medicine, a holistic way of treating patients.

According to her website, ‘‘NZ government mandates’’ mean her work is done via Zoom, and her fees are stated as $420 plus GST per hour.

Despite warnings from bodies like Medsafe and the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, Kiwis have attempted to import and buy Ivermectin.

In July, Whakata¯ne GP Dr Bernard Conlon, who imported 14,3000 Ivermectin tablets from India, lost an appeal against Medsafe after his stockpile was intercepted at the border. Some were found to be contaminated.

Royal New Zealand College of GPs medical director Dr Bryan Betty said there was ‘‘no evidence at all that [Ivermectin] helps’’.

Wheeler’s prescribed dose was on the high side, Betty said.

‘‘It is usually prescribed as a single dose [for parasites], and [for an] average 70kg person, the dose would be approximately 14 micrograms. The doctor here is prescribing for five days, 36mcg a day, which is higher than the recommended dose for parasites.’’

Ivermectin was not without risks, Betty said. The wrong dose could cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, low blood pressure, allergic reactions, dizziness, seizures, coma and even death.

The practice of prescribing Ivermectin was not widespread, he said. ‘‘Generally, through doctors who take an antivaccination stance, and we know there are very small numbers – probably less than 30 around the country.’’

The vaccine exemption Wheeler issued her patient was not valid in New Zealand, Betty said. There was only one pathway for getting an exemption, through the Ministry of Health, and very few Kiwis were eligible.