JOHOR BARU, June 7 — A complaint filed with the police accusing Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba and Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah of committing a crime by allegedly refusing to adopt Ivermectin for high-risk Covid-19 patients will be passed on to the Health Ministry.
The complaint that has been widely circulating on Facebook was filed by a 61-year-old contractor at the Pengerang police station in Johor last Thursday.
The Pengerang police station comes under the jurisdiction of the Kota Tinggi district police.
A source with information of the report but is not an authorised spokesman said the complainant’s report lacked a criminal element warranting police investigation and as such, will be referred to the Health Ministry.
“The case was classified as under ‘referral to other agencies’ or ROA and in this case the agency would be the MOH for further action.
“Following that police had also completed a ‘no offences disclosed’ (NOD) on the report for filling purposes before it was forwarded to the MOH on the same day,” the source told Malay Mail tonight.
In the report that went viral, the complainant took issue with the MOH’s initial failure to implement the use of the anti-parasitic treatment drug called Ivermectin for seriously ill Covid-19 patients warded in intensive care units (ICU).
The complainant, a Selangor contractor who is based in Pengerang, claimed that Ivermectin could have been used to save the lives of Malaysians who were critically ill with Covid-19.
The contractor said the failure by both Dr Adham and Dr Noor Hisham in not applying Ivermectin to save lives was a crime.
The complainant cited several expert opinions on the drug’s efficacy and claimed that Dr Noor Hisham was also urged to use the drug in treating Covid-19 patients.
Last Saturday, Dr Noor Hisham said that while Ivermectin has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an anti-parasitic drug for treating several neglected tropical diseases, including onchocerciasis, strongyloidiasis and helminthiases, there is insufficient evidence to recommend that it be used as routine treatment on Covid-19 patients.
However, he added that clinical trials to study the use and efficacy of Ivermectin for high-risk Covid-19 patients in Malaysia has begun.
