Positions & Statements

ILAR Latin American Industry for Responsible Self-Care advises the population in Latin America, who have questions about pain and fever management during the COVID-19 pandemic, to trust the recommendations of health professionals, the communiqués of health portals administered by the National Government, as well as the indications of approved for over-the-counter medications. Recent speculation about a link between the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and worsening of symptoms due to COVID-19 is not currently supported by scientific evidence. The vast majority of patients, from observational studies diagnosed with COVID-19, show no association between the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including ibuprofen, and worsening in the development of the disease. World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Self-Care Federation and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have stated that there is no evidence of a connection between NSAIDs and worsening symptoms of COVID-19 and they advise patients and healthcare professionals to consider all available treatment options, including acetaminophen and NSAIDs, based on approved medication information. According to the results of the Danish National Cohort Study on the use of non-steroidal drugs and the clinical outcome of COVID-19, the use of ibuprofen and other analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs, the so-called NSAIDs, are not associated with mortality or worsening of symptoms in coronavirus-infected patients. The results show that there is no statistically significant difference between patients who use NSAIDs and patients who do not use NSAIDs. (To access the full results of the study, click here) Self-care is crucial to lessen the burden on health care systems, particularly during this time of crisis. ILAR continues to monitor the situation closely and will review any new information that becomes available on this topic to assist in the proper dissemination of true and scientifically proven information. For further reference on clinical studies, see the following links:

• Press release from the Danish Medicines Agency: https://laegemiddelstyrelsen.dk/en/news/2020/new-data-analysis-ibuprofen-does-not-worsen-covid-19-infection/
• Danish Cohort Study: https://laegemiddelstyrelsen.dk/da/om/laegemiddelstyrelsens-dataanalysecenter-dac/registeranalyser-af-danske-covid-19-patienter/~/media/B3255E7D0BE54431A9D9EBEF1EB770F3.ashx
• Danish Medicines Agency (1): https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.08.20115683v1.full.pdf
• Danish Medicines Agency (2): https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-26247/v1
• Shamir Medical Center, Israel: https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(20)30343-8/fulltext
• Michigan, United States study : https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joim.13119
• Massachusetts, United States study: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.11.20061994
• COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance: https://ard.bmj.com/content/79/7/859