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Feed stores in the Phoenix area are all sold out of ivermectin.
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It started months ago: customers went to the Western Ranchman, the North Phoenix Ranch grocery store, and asked for tubes of ivermectin.
The drug is a staple in pet food stores. It is a de-wormer used to treat parasites in horses. But these customers didn’t give it to horses.
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“They said, ‘Oh, I’ll take it for Covid,'” says Amy Jonson, who works in the store.
In the past few weeks, more customers than ever have been buying the drug from Western Ranchman, says Jonson. It is one of several pet food stores in the Phoenix area that told the Phoenix New Times that they have been inundated with requests for ivermectin from customers who mistakenly believe that taking horse deworming will ward off the virus.
Theories that ivermectin can cure or treat Covid-19 have been circulating on social media and right-wing news for months. However, there is no solid evidence that the drug is effective in treating the virus. The World Health Organization, the CDC and the FDA have all warned against use in Covid-19 outside of clinical trials – be it the apple-flavored ivermectin paste for horses, the pour-on version for cows or the prescription pill formulation for humans .
However, the warnings haven’t stopped people from rushing to get the drug as Covid cases continue to rise. Some pharmacists have given in to the demand: nationwide, ivermectin is now being prescribed 25 times more often than before the pandemic. And when drug believers are not given prescriptions for the human-approved form, some resort to taking ivermectin, which is made for horses and cows – sometimes with gruesome results.
The Western Ranchman sells three different brands of ivermectin, all of which are intended for use on horses. They’re all cleaned off the shelves.
“We’re totally sold out,” Jonson told the New Times.
Even their suppliers ran out of ivermectin, Jonson said, which was unusual.
An employee at Mesa pet supply store Premier Feed and Pet also told the New Times that the store had seen a dramatic increase in ivermectin sales. A new case came last Friday; everything was gone on monday.
“We can’t even keep it on the shelf at the moment,” said the employee, who refused to be identified in order to discuss the situation.
The demand for ivermectin has become a “real problem” for Premier Feed and Pet, said the employee, who now has his own liability when selling the product given the use of the drug, which given that it is very strong concerned is made for thousand pound horses – has been linked to multiple human hospitalizations. But until now the store has not stopped selling the product.
Other local stores that reported rising sales include Gordon’s Feed in South Phoenix and Superstition Feed and Pet out in Apache Junction. Others declined to discuss the drug with the New Times: “Our ivermectin paste is for animals,” was all a representative of Shoppers Supply in Chandler would say.
However, Jonson believes that most of the feed stores in the area can handle the demand. “It’s the same story everywhere, I’m sure,” she said. “For us that’s certainly a thing.”
Local poison control centers have also started issuing warnings about the drug. Last week, Banner Health in Phoenix reported that its poison control center saw an increase in calls for ivermectin in August, including one case of hospitalizations for the drug. The Arizona Poison Control System in Tucson says it has received a dozen calls about ivermectin.
“It’s something we see nationwide,” banner spokesman Alexis Kramer told the New Times.
Daniel Brooks, medical director of the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center, stated in last week’s announcement that higher doses of the drug, as found in its animal formulations, “can cause significant disease in humans.” There have been no new cases of hospital admissions, Kramer said, but concerns remain.
Feed stores are in a difficult position. As the employee at the Mesa feed store noted, ivermectin is vital to horses. In order to prevent potentially deadly parasites, the animals have to be dewormed several times a year.
“We have to sell it,” she said. “We absolutely have to sell it so that the horses stay healthy. This is our business. ”But, she said, she is haunted by the customers who she knows are“ poisoning ”.
At the Western Ranchman, Jonson says there is little the store can do to slow sales. “We just remind them,” she said, “that it’s labeled for horses.”
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