Govt gets leave to appeal ruling allowing doctors to dispense Ivermectin

 

Last August, the Court of Appeal declared that doctors can dispense Ivermectin as part of a course of treatment to a patient under their care. (Reuters pic)

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has granted the government and health ministry leave to proceed with their appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling giving doctors the right to dispense Ivermectin to patients.

The three-judge panel, led by Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, said there was merit in the application as it concerned public health.

“We, therefore, allow all the six questions (of law) to be further ventilated in the appeal proper,” said Abang Iskandar, who sat with Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli and Justice Hanipah Farikullah.

One legal concern arises from the use and impact of unregistered Ivermectin drugs which await further clinical research by the World Health Organization.

The government asked whether legitimising the use and dispensation of Ivermectin by registered medical professionals defied the principles of justice when there was no assurance yet that the drug could be safely used on humans or to effectively treat Covid-19.

On Aug 25, 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled that registered medical practitioners were permitted to dispense Ivermectin to patients for treatment, subject to compliance with Section 19 of the Poisons Act 1952 and the Poison Regulations 1952.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the ruling did not recognise Ivermectin as an alternative remedy to treat Covid-19 but simply acknowledged the right of medical practitioners in exercising their professional judgment to dispense Group B Poisons, including Ivermectin, to their patients.

It had allowed the appeal by two doctors to overturn the High Court’s dismissal of their lawsuit.

On Sept 21, 2021, Malaysian Association for the Advancement of Functional and Interdisciplinary Medicine chairman Dr S Vijaendran and Dr Che Amir Farid Che Isahak filed an originating summons against the ministry and the government.

They sought a declaration on the interpretation of the Poisons Act 1952 and the Poison Regulations 1952 to determine whether a registered medical practitioner was entitled to dispense Ivermectin to patients.

On June 14, 2021, officers from the Selangor health department’s pharmaceutical services division confiscated Ivermectin from Che Amir Farid’s clinic.

Senior federal counsel Rahazlan Affandi Abdul Rahim and Liew Horng Bin appeared for the health ministry and government, while lawyers Gurdial Singh Nijar and Abraham Au represented the doctors in today’s online proceedings. - FMT