Скачать или смотреть Duane, Is That Right? Ibuprofen still safe, despite social media posts warning it's deadly

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - It’s amazing how large myths grow when they’re fueled by fear.

For weeks, we've been bombarded with social media posts and messages delivering dire warnings about ibuprofen. The posts, which have been shared countless times, claim ibuprofen will “exasperate” the symptoms of COVID-19, making it “10 times” worse and that coronavirus patients have died because they took ibuprofen.

Like many of these types of claims, this one is rooted loosely in science. The scare started on March 11 when researchers in Switzerland and Greece who reviewed the cases of 1,300 gravely ill COVID-19 patients in China published a letter in The Lancet.

In it, the researchers revealed a possible connection between anti-inflammatory drugs, including ibuprofen, and levels of an enzyme that could make coronavirus conditions worsen. Within days, France’s Ministry of Health circulated a warning about using ibuprofen to treat COVID-19 fevers.

The same day, the French minister of health tweeted to avoid taking ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory medicines. The warnings from high-level government officials legitimized a scare and social media posts began to take off.

But that original letter in The Lancet was not a scientific study. It was, as the publication itself described, a “commentary.”

One of the original researchers, Professor Michael Roth, tried to set the record straight in an article published by the University of Basel stating the article that was originally published “...does not constitute a recommendation to use certain drugs or not. Patients should always follow the instructions given by their physicians.”

The World Health Organization is continuously trying to clear up the confusion as well, sending tweets stating, "WHO does not recommend against the use of ibuprofen."

Still, the posts with deadly warnings about ibuprofen continue to spread faster than the pandemic.

But now you know the truth: These posts are just plain WRONG.