Accessibility of Ivermectin from Online Pharmacies during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Creators: name: Kim, Cecilia
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2024

description: Background: The use of ivermectin for the treatment of the SARS-CoV-2-infection has become highly politicized during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as there have been mixed results concerning its efficacy, and it has not been endorsed by federal health guidelines. Many patients have been turning to online pharmacies to purchase ivermectin due to the advantages they provide, such as greater convenience, home delivery, and no prescription requirement, unaware that most of these online pharmacies are illegitimate online pharmacies that are not in compliance with US pharmacy laws. Yet, there is currently very limited research on the accessibility of the purchase of ivermectin through online pharmacies.

Objectives: To assess the availability of ivermectin through online pharmacies in the US throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the safety and marketing characteristics of legitimate vs illegitimate websites.

Methods: We went through websites using the search phrase, “buy ivermectin online,” in June 2022. We screened for websites that sold ivermectin and shipped to the USA, and then recorded various characteristics, such as prescription requirement, medication price, and legitimacy of the website. Legitimacy of each website was determined using LegitScript, an internet pharmacy verification database.

Results: A total of 247 websites were reviewed from Google and Bing, and of these, 35 unique websites were identified to sell ivermectin online. From these, LegitScript classified 17 as rogue pharmacies, 6 as legitimate/certified, and 12 as unclassified. Of the 29 websites selling human use ivermectin pills/tablets, 55.2% were rogue, while 13.8% were legitimate/certified. 70.6% of rogue pharmacies selling ivermectin for human use did not require a prescription for purchase, and 94.1% did not have any quantity limitations. Only 1 legitimate website did not require a prescription for purchase. Among rogue websites, 35.3% accepted cryptocurrency as a form of payment, and some offered complimentary products at checkout when a certain quantity was purchased, the most common ones being sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis), and vardenafil (Levitra). No legitimate/certified websites accepted cryptocurrency or offered complimentary products. All prices from rogue websites were lower than those of certified online pharmacies, and they were comparable to GoodRx prices.

Conclusion: Almost half of the websites that came up when we searched for buying ivermectin online were rogue, meaning that people who wanted to buy ivermectin even without a prescription could easily do so through a simple web search. This raises several concerns for high-demand medications that have limited access, as it could encourage behaviors of abuse and self-prescription of medications. As online pharmacies are becoming a more common source for patients to buy their medications, health care providers need to be educated on ways to check for the legitimacy of online pharmacies. Policy changes that target rogue pharmacies need to be put in place to identify these websites early before many consumers have access to them.