Anti-Inflammatory Drug Ibuprofen Does Not Worsen Covid Symptoms: Study

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic there was concern over the potential effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are used to treat everything from minor pain to chronic arthritis and cardiovascular disease.

Taking anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen does not increase the risk of developing a severe form of Covid-19 or of dying from it, according to a new study, the largest so far on this class of medicines. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic there was concern over the potential effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which are used to treat everything from minor pain to chronic arthritis and cardiovascular disease. But observational research published Saturday in the medical journal Lancet Rheumatology, based on 72,000 hospitalised patients, found that the drugs "do not increase the mortality or severity" of Covid-19. The authors recommended that doctors should continue to prescribe NSAIDs as they have in the past.