March 20, 2020

Treating Coronavirus Symptoms With Ibuprofen Is Probably Okay, Doctors Say

The clarification follows doubt about whether ibuprofen could worsen symptoms of COVID-19.

Richard B. Levine/Levine Roberts/Newscom/Zuma

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Despite early warnings from France’s health minister and the World Health Organization, ibuprofen is still considered a safe treatment for symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, such as fever and headache.

In a tweet on Saturday, French health minister Olivier Véran advised against the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen for treating COVID-19, suggesting that they could aggravate symptoms. The warning could stem from a recent study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine suggesting that anti-inflammatory medication could increase an individual’s susceptibility to infection, according to NPR.

After initially endorsing this recommendation and advising the use of acetaminophen instead, the WHO has reversed course, assuring the public that there is no clinical evidence to suggest that ibuprofen, sold under brand names including Motrin and Advil, worsens the symptoms of COVID-19.

As Dr. Angela Rogers, the chair of the intensive care unit’s COVID-19 task force at Stanford University Medical Center, tells NPR, acetaminophen, sold under the brand name Tylenol, is recommended for patients who are sick enough to go to the hospital because it is less likely to damage the kidneys than ibuprofen when taken long-term. But at high doses, acetaminophen can cause damage to the liver.

For now, doctors are indicating that any fever-reducer is an acceptable first-line treatment to symptoms of COVID-19.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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