Recently, TrialSite reached out to 100 pharmacies in a survey investigating whether ivermectin would be available. Many readers have sent us tips that the supply of the drug was suddenly in very short supply. While ivermectin prescriptions skyrocketed by summer for off-label use driven by COVID-19, there were no pervasive reports of shortage or availability issues then. After reaching out to 100 pharmacies, TrialSite reports nearly 65% of them suddenly have major “supply issues” informing our analysts that the product was out and on backorder.
Prescriptions for ivermectin absolutely skyrocketed to nearly 90,000 prescriptions per week, reported the New York Times last month even though the drug purportedly didn’t help address early-onset mild-to-moderate COVID-19. By October, TrialSite suggests increasing pressure from pharmacy and physician licensing boards on providers to not prescribe the drug for off-label use led to sweeping changes in access. Of course, the pressure comes from above as the current Biden administration, leadership within the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the media have vilified the drug when it comes to any off-label use for COVD-19.
Earlier in the year, this cheap drug was far easier to obtain via physician prescription. But many TrialSite readers called or emailed tips that they are not able to access the drug—even with a physician’s prescription.
Typically, an easy product to access with a prescription, our survey indicates most pharmacies now will declare that they do not have the product available. Many of the pharmacies that we spoke with reported that even their wholesalers, such as Amerisource and McKesson, reported supply issues.
We identified some geographic patterns. For example, the 25% of pharmacies that did report some availability of ivermectin were mostly based in the South or the Southwest. Conversely, those pharmacies we surveyed in the Northeast or Midwest, for example, were far more likely to report “out of supply” and in “backorder” status with no foreseeable date to obtain it. Overall, we learned that if the prescription was off-label for COVID-19, it is now far more difficult to get that prescription filled.
The standard price point for ivermectin, according to Drugs.com, for 20 tablets 3mg ivermectin is $93.97 or $4.70 per unit. During our survey, we found a range of prices much higher than the Drugs.com average price. Some pharmacies are willing to provide the drug off-label for cash, but of course, this requires a prescription. For example, one pharmacy in Dallas, Texas, offers a 20-pill box for $199 or $9.95 per pill! We found another location in Delaware charging $5.46 per pill. A pharmacy in Louisiana charged $4.50 per tablet, one in Alabama quoted us $5.89 per pill, and a private pharmacy in Phoenix was charging $6 per pill. We found a few more cases where the price per unit headed toward the $9 mark.
Of note, we discovered that overwhelmingly, large corporate chains have effectively cut off the ivermectin supply, declaring they cannot access the drug. They reported it was on “backorder,” while small, privately-owned pharmacies in the South and Southwest were more likely to carry the product but charge increasingly exorbitant prices.
FLCCC Pharmacy List
Recently, the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) shared their ivermectin pharmacy list. Demonstrating the purge that has occurred, only 39 pharmacies made the list out of about 88,000 pharmacies nationwide.