Overmedication in COVID-19 Context: A Report From Peru.

Most of the drugs with biological plausibility and favorable preclinical studies ultimately did not have enough clinical benefits to allow their approval for commercialization. This indicates that drugs with biological plausibility and/or preclinical studies will often only cause harm and can even be fatal.

Currently, there is little high‐quality information on the effectiveness of therapies for coronavirus disease 2019 (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. 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 Monday through 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. Unfortunately, this is not anecdotal, since many doctors and nondoctors 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), and 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. The kits include drugs such as ivermectin, azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, and paracetamol. In addition, the Peruvian Ministry of Health has standardized the management of patients with COVID‐19, including the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin in mild cases, 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.

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 their 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. ,

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.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Author Contributions

Both authors conceived, redacted, and approved the final version of the article.