key: cord-0913235-muavou86 authors: Martinez‐Rivera, Raisa N.; Taype‐Rondan, Alvaro title: Overmedication in COVID‐19 context: a report from Peru date: 2020-07-01 journal: J Clin Pharmacol DOI: 10.1002/jcph.1704 sha: 7659ca30ccd292a137b7144b5965797c202a45b6 doc_id: 913235 cord_uid: muavou86 nan Most of the drugs with biological plausibility and favorable preclinical studies ultimately did not have enough clinical benefits to allow its approval for commercialization. 1 This indicates drugs with biological plausibility and/or preclinical studies will oftentimes only cause harm and can even be fatal. Currently, there is little high-quality information on the effectiveness of therapies for COVID-19. In this context, the yearning for "doing something" is causing a massive use of unproven drugs to prevent and/or treat COVID-19. As a result, we are reporting how this overmedication is developing in Peru. Many of the reasons include the participation of the media, health professionals, and even the government. Through the media, some influential doctors are promoting overmedication. On a national television and radio program that broadcasts from Monday to Friday, a doctor has recommended several times that patients with COVID-19 and COVID-19 symptoms for more than 5 days, should take warfarin to avoid further complications. Regretfully, this is not anecdotal, since many doctors and non-doctors tend to recommend a plethora of unproven drugs via television, radio, Facebook, or other means of communication. Many doctors are also prescribing several drugs including anticoagulants, antibiotics (mainly amoxicillin, levofloxacin, or ceftriaxone), corticosteroids (mainly prednisone or methylprednisolone), anti-inflammatories (mainly ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, or indomethacin), dietary supplements (zinc, vitamins), chlorine dioxide, among others. The Peruvian state also falls into these unproven and dangerous practices. In some Peruvian regions, the government is distributing "COVID kits" for the treatment of patients with mild disease 2 . The kits include drugs such as ivermectin, azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, and paracetamol. In This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. 3 addition, the Peruvian Ministry of Health has standardized the management of COVID-19 patients including the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin in mild cases 3 , without detailing the arguments behind this decision, and even after the public decision-making institutions have pointed out the lack of evidence to prescribe these medications. 4 The consequences of this overmedication are beginning to be seen in Peru. Doctors are reporting cases of adverse effects of drugs used for COVID-19. In addition, given its massive consumption, many of these drugs are in shortage, which pushes people to use similar drugs, such as ivermectin which is intended for animals and can cause greater harm. 5, 6 In Peru, as in many other countries, the prescription hype is leading to massive drug consumption. This drug consumption is straining the health care system by causing an outbreak of adverse effects. To minimize this, it is urgent to establish an evidence-based methodology for decision making, as well as giving evidence-based information to the population. Translation of highly promising basic science research into clinical applications. The American journal of medicine Decreto de urgencia que dicta medidas extraordinarias para garantizar el acceso a medicamentos y dispositivos médicos para el tratamiento del coronavirus y reforzar la respuesta sanitaria en el marco del estado de emergencia sanitaria por el covid-19 Manejo ambulatorio de personas afectadas por COVID-19 en el Perú Intervenciones farmacológicas para el tratamiento de la enfermedad por el coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Letter to Stakeholders: Do Not Use Ivermectin Intended for Animals as Treatment for COVID-19 in Humans Uso de ivermectina para el tratamiento de pacientes adultos con COVID The authors declare to have no compelling interests with this article. All authors conceived, redacted, and approved the last version of the manuscript. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.