Original article (in Serbian) was published on 02/11/2021
For a month now, several doctors in the Viber group “Ivermectin Recommendations” have been advising citizens to use ivermectin to prevent and treat coronavirus – a drug given to animals in Serbia to treat parasites, and in human medicine only in exceptional cases for severe scabies. In addition, they analyze their laboratory findings and prescribe therapies with antibiotics and other drugs, and there are also those who advise treatment with “vibrations”. The Medical Chamber of Serbia states that the law prohibits medical practice outside the institutions, and when asked whether these doctors will lose their licenses, they answered that they would examine the matter together with the health inspection and the police.
“Ivermectin is contraindicated in children (…) and individuals with liver or kidney disease (…) It would not be bad if someone brings ivermectin from Germany or another country, to translate their instructions which certainly contain more detailed restrictions and contraindications for use. Whoever procures the medicine from abroad should scan the instructions and we will translate and publish them”, wrote gynecologist Borislav Antonijevic, employed at the GAK Narodni front in Belgrade, on September 29 on the Viber group “Ivermectin Recommendations”.
Although they themselves were not sure how risky this drug against parasites was, the doctors continued to recommend it to the group members, claiming that it helped them personally prevent the coronavirus. In just one month, this viber group gathered about 11,000 members.
People came up in the following days with questions about where they could buy ivermectin and how to dose it.
Concerns about dosing were some of the most common in the group, as noted by the journalist from Raskrikavanje, who followed the correspondence for days.
There were those who photographed ivermectin in powder, for which the doctors answered that it should not be used because it is unrefined and is used for mixing with animal food.
However, at one point, the doctor told the woman who asked about this powder – otherwise intended for pigs – that “if she insists”, she can use it.
Gynecologist Antonijevic is not the only doctor in this group. There are more of them among the administrators of the group, but many do not advertise. However, those who are active, not only give recommendations on ivermectin, but on a couple of occasions have advised people in which pharmacies they can get it illegally. Several citizens saw this as an opportunity for business, so the group circulated the phone numbers of people who will purchase this medicine abroad at a price of 15 euros.
In recent weeks, in addition to prescribing how to dose ivermectin, doctors have been prescribing other therapies in the group, such as antibiotics and other medications. Some of the people who sought medical advice were also cancer patients or heart patients.
Apart from Antonijevic, the group also includes Tatjana Janovski Lutovac, a pulmonologist from Belgrade, and Svetlana Vesanovic, a plastic surgeon who has her private practice in Belgrade.
There are also Tatjana Adamovic, head of cardiology at the General Hospital in Valjevo, as well as Zeljko Cvorovic, ENT specialist from Loznica.
One of the doctors who was also among the administrators of the group is Bojko Bjelakovic, the head of the Department of Cardiology at the Clinic for Pediatrics in Nis. He was removed from that position on November 1, as confirmed by Juzne vesti, due to his participation in this group.
The Law on Health Care prescribes that medical activity can be performed only in health care institutions and private practice. Whoever works differently – their license is revoked, and they have to pay a fine of 40,000 to 120,000 dinars.
The journalist from Raskrikavanje asked the Medical Chamber of Serbia (LKS) – which issued doctors’ licenses – whether they would initiate proceedings against these doctors, but the answer was very vague – they quoted the law and said that in cooperation with the inspection and the MUP they would take “all further necessary measures”.
“The health inspection primarily determines whether someone was engaged in health activities outside the health institution. After that, the Court of the Medical Chamber of Serbia, on the basis of evidence, initiates the procedure and adopts disciplinary measures”, they stated from LKS for Raskrikavanje.
The Ministry of Health did not answer any of Raskrikavanje’s questions, nor did it react in any way to the existence of this group.
Delic: Illegal and dangerous
Infectologist Dragan Delic told Raskrikavanje that this activity in the group is illegal and unprofessional.
There is a procedure for how a drug is tested and introduced into medical practice for certain diseases, and that is certainly not through the Viber group.
“Yes, individuals, even if they are called doctors, voluntarily, based on their thinking and their knowledge gained on the Internet, include something in clinical practice, it is something that contradicts the law, logic, profession and practice. I see that these people come forward and list all sorts of problems. Medicines are not candies to be distributed just like that”, he says.
It is necessary for the health inspection and the Medical Chamber to react, Delic believes.
“I am surprised that they do not take action. What is the task of health inspection? To let people die because we use drugs that are not officially approved? Should the Medical Chamber react too, do we have to draw their attention to something like that? It must be automatism”, he points out and adds that this looks like anarchy, frivolity and incompetence.
Apart from ivermectin, he points out that it is unprofessional and dangerous to give any therapies to patients over the phone and Viber groups.
“You cannot prescribe therapy without examining the patient. The patient should be listened to first, it is called anamnesis, you should examine him, take some results and analyzes and recordings that you need to interpret, after that therapy is given. If we are going to treat over the phone, then the doctors should be abolished”, points out Raskrikavanje’s interlocutor.
Suspicious protocol
Due to many questions about dosing and additional therapy, a file with a “protocol” is attached to the top of the Viber group – a document that describes in detail what to drink for the prevention or treatment of corona. In addition to ivermectin and mouthwash, there are various vitamins, aspirin, and even antidepressants.
The protocol is unofficial and comes from the website of the FLCCC alliance, a small American organization founded last year. The core of the organization consists of American doctors Pierre Kory and Paul Marik, who initially promoted hydroxychloroquine treatment, the effectiveness of which has not been proven. They then switched to recommending ivermectin.
According to Business Insider, Kory left the University of Wisconsin where he worked last year, because they did not support his ideas about ivermectin. Marik, on the other hand, is a doctor of questionable reputation – in 2017, he presented the “Marik protocol” for the treatment of sepsis with vitamins, which the profession soon discovered was useless.
Although he regularly took ivermectin following his own recommendations, in August this year, Pierre Kory himself had covid.
Promoting quackery
From time to time, in addition to doctors, people who are not doctors also give advice in the group.
Thus, at one point, a certain Aleksandar Mitrovic Metanoja, who presents himself as a psychologist and a therapist who treats with “vibration medicine”, gave a recommendation to patients. He even “cures” oncology patients with the so-called “mitochondrial cancer therapy”, which he promotes on his website.
Behind this Viber group are people who gathered in the movement “Doctors and parents for science and ethics”. Among them is a professor of the Medical Faculty in Belgrade, Valentina Arsic Arsenijevic. In August, she was the first on the list of signatories of the petition who opposed the vaccination of children against covid. The Faculty of Medicine distanced itself from this act.
Nada Gladovic is also in the association, and she is active in the group. She usually sells hemp products, participates in current anti-vaccination protests, and is a member of the “Dveri” movement, which has given her public support these days.
A member of this “team” is Mila Aleckovic, a right-wing activist known for her questioning views for years, who these days claims on her Twitter account, without any evidence, that children die after being vaccinated with Pfizer, and promotes other conspiracy theories.
The goal of the LRNE group, as stated on the site, is to determine, among other things, the scientific and ethical justification of the vaccine, the use of masks and social distance.
They also claim to advocate for the availability and free flow of information. Nonetheless, administrators expel anyone who asks any questions about the effectiveness of ivermectin or questions the group’s goal. Such a member is declared a bot and banned.