Pepto-Bismol, the familiar pink over-the-counter medicine, might be expected to ease diarrhea symptoms in people with or without COVID-19.
The claim that “big pharma” is hiding the benefits of Pepto-Bismol as a treatment for COVID-19 is part of a narrative that COVID-19 was manufactured for the pharmaceutical industry as a source of profit, previously debunked by Reuters (here).
Bruce Yacyshyn, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and co-principal investigator of the Pepto-Bismol clinical trial, told Reuters via email that there was a valid scientific reason to test the medication in the context of COVID-19.
But it remained as yet an “unproven treatment” for the virus because “no placebo controlled, randomized clinical trial data is yet available for this drug in this indication.”WHY PEPTO-BISMOL?
There is no scientific evidence that Pepto-Bismol provides any benefit as a treatment for COVID-19, and a clinical trial testing that question has not yet produced results.