How common are human ivermectin overdoses reported to poison control centers in recent years?
Executive summary
Poison control centers reported increased ivermectin-related calls during the COVID‑19 misinformation surge, with multiple outlets and public agencies documenting spikes in toxicity reports and hospitalizations tied to misuse—particularly ingestion of veterinary products [1] [2]. National agencies (FDA, CDC) warned that ivermectin overdose can cause nausea, dizziness, seizures, coma and death and that poison centers were “inundated with calls” at the pandemic peak, but systematic, recent counts of poison‑center overdose incidents across the U.S. are not provided in the supplied sources [2] [1] [3].
1. What reporting actually shows: spikes during the COVID misinformation wave
Multiple mainstream outlets and public health agencies reported that U.S. poison control centers saw clear upticks in ivermectin toxicity calls when social media and public figures promoted unproven uses for the drug; CNN says poison centers “reported seeing increasing cases of ivermectin toxicity” during the height of the COVID‑19 period and the FDA and CDC issued warnings as hospitalizations followed misuse of veterinary formulations [1] [2]. Pharmacy Times explicitly quotes that “Poison control centers were inundated with calls,” linking misinformation to the surge in demand and exposures [3].
2. How severe the reported overdoses can be, according to agencies
Federal guidance and reporting list a broad spectrum of overdose harms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, dizziness, ataxia, seizures, coma and even death have been reported after ivermectin overdose or misuse, including cases requiring hospitalization after people took veterinary products [2] [4]. The CDC and FDA warned against using animal formulations and against unapproved uses such as COVID‑19 treatment [2] [4].
3. Numbers and national surveillance: available sources do not give a simple recent total
Supplied reporting documents qualitative increases and warns of poison‑center burdens but does not provide a single, up‑to‑date national figure for “human ivermectin overdoses reported to poison control centers” in recent years. News articles and pharmacy trade coverage cite surges and state examples; CDC and FDA materials document harms and warnings but do not, in the material provided here, list an exact nationwide case count for recent years [1] [2] [3].
4. State and local snapshots: examples confirm localized upticks
Local reporting and state poison control centers provide concrete examples: Florida’s poison control reported dozens of ivermectin‑related cases in August 2021, and state legislative debates reflect attention to misuse and safety [5] [3]. These state‑level reports demonstrate that increases were concentrated in particular periods and places rather than steady, uniform trends nationally [5] [3].
5. Why counts vary and surveillance is limited
The CDC itself warns that measurement of drug‑specific overdose data is affected by variable testing, reporting and investigation practices across jurisdictions, which makes consistent national comparison difficult; supplied CDC material emphasizes variability in toxicology testing and reporting by jurisdiction [6]. That variability helps explain why the sources here document spikes and warnings but do not present one authoritative national count of poison‑control ivermectin overdoses for recent years [6].
6. Competing perspectives and policy responses
Some states have moved to make ivermectin available over the counter, a policy trend reported in Pharmacy Times and CNN; proponents frame this as access for approved parasitic uses, while pharmacists and public health voices warn of confusion, lack of guidance and renewed risks for misuse—an implicit tradeoff between access and potential for harm noted in the supplied reporting [3] [1]. Media stories also document renewed public interest from high‑profile endorsements, complicating public messaging [7].
7. What’s missing from current reporting and where to look next
The supplied sources document harms, warnings and local spikes, but they do not supply consolidated, recent poison‑control call totals or trend graphs nationwide. For a definitive numeric answer, the Poison Control National Data System or peer‑reviewed analyses of NPDS reports would be the next sources to consult; available sources here do not include those datasets (not found in current reporting).
Limitations: This piece relies only on the provided news and agency excerpts; it cites documented warnings and local examples [2] [1] [3] [5] and flags where the supplied collection lacks a single national case count [6].