Why do some people think that the FDA has to say ivermectin works for COVID because they lost a lawsuit?
The usual suspects...
Does the FDA have to say Ivermectin works for COVID because they lost a lawsuit?
While there was a lawsuit about ivermectin, it turns out that the FDA settled, instead of "continuing to litigate over statements that are between two and nearly four years old."
"FDA has not admitted any violation of law or any wrongdoing, disagrees with the plaintiffs’ allegation that the agency exceeded its authority in issuing the statements challenged in the lawsuit, and stands by its authority to communicate with the public regarding the products it regulates,” the spokesperson said. “FDA has not changed its position that currently available clinical trial data do not demonstrate that ivermectin is effective against COVID-19. The agency has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19."
FDA Spokesperson to Epoch Times
So what does the FDA have to do?
They have to:
- Retire FDA’s Consumer Update entitled, Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19, originally posted on March 5, 2021, and revised on September 7, 2021 (ECF No. 12, Ex. 1), while retaining the right to post a revised Consumer Update.
- Delete and not republish (1) FDA’s Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook posts from August 21, 2021 (ECF No. 12, Exs. 4, 5), that read, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”; (2) FDA’s Instagram post from August 21, 2021 (ECF No. 12, Ex. 6), that reads, “You are not a horse. Stop it with the #ivermectin. It’s not authorized for treating #COVID.”; (3) FDA’s Twitter post from April 26, 2022 (ECF No. 12, Ex. 7), that reads, “Hold your horses, y’all. Ivermectin may be trending, but it still isn’t authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.”; and (4) all other social media posts on FDA accounts that link to Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19 (ECF No. 12, Ex. 1).
Do you remember these posts?
Ivermectin is still not authorized for treating COVID.
I'm guessing the posts on LinkedIn and Facebook looked the same...
Despite having to take down a few tweets and posts that no one remembered until this lawsuit made them popular again, that the FDA has not changed its position on ivermectin is clear when you see the information that will remain:
- FDA - Ivermectin Intended for Animals: Letter to Stakeholders - Do Not Use in Humans as a Treatment for COVID-19
- FDA - Beware of Fraudulent Coronavirus Tests, Vaccines and Treatments
- FDA - Know Your Treatment Options for COVID-19 (where's ivermectin?)
- FDA - WARNING LETTER to www.ivermectin4covid.com
- FDA - Revised Consumer Update - Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19? (TBD)
And that's because ivermectin still doesn't work against COVID.
Why Do People Think Ivermectin Treats COVID?
Sure, ivermectin is approved to treat people with intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis (roundworm parasites), head lice (ivermectin lotion), and rosacea (ivermectin cream), but that doesn't mean you should use it off-label for COVID.
Then why do people think ivermectin treats COVID?
"Approximately 1 in 20 people with probable COVID-19 reported using a non–evidence-based treatment, and these individuals were more likely to exhibit specific deleterious beliefs and attitudes not captured by political affiliation."
Misinformation, Trust, and Use of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19
At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, researchers tested nearly every drug to see if it treat COVID. While most didn't, they did find that ivermectin had some anti-viral activity against COVID, but only had very high doses and only when tested in vitro, not on real people.
Subsequent ivermectin studies that showed it worked "show signs of fraud or are at a high risk of having biased results."
And plenty of studies showed it doesn't actually work.
"Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center were part of a multi-site collaboration that found that ivermectin has no measurable effect in improving COVID-19 outcomes."
Ivermectin shown ineffective in treating COVID-19, according to multi-site study including KU Medical Center
Remember, ivermectin, still isn't authorized, approved, or even recommended to treat COVID.
"The study populations in most of the reviewed trials were patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who had a relatively low risk of disease progression, and the number of deaths was low (as expected). In these randomized trials, completely excluding an effect of ivermectin on COVID-19 disease progression is difficult because the trials were not powered to detect differences in secondary outcomes, such as death. However, data from these trials do not provide evidence that the use of ivermectin is effective for the treatment of COVID-19. For this reason, and because other medications now have demonstrated clear clinical benefits for the treatment of COVID-19, the Panel recommends against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19."
Ivermectin - NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines
That's very clear when you read the COVID-19 treatment guidelines from the NIH, which actually recommends against the use of ivermectin.
"There’s solid evidence to show the drug is ineffective at treating COVID," says Professor Catherine Bennett, head of epidemiology at Deakin University. "It’s one thing to prescribe without good evidence, but it’s quite another to prescribe against available and reliable evidence."
Ivermectin’s race is run as studies all point to the same conclusion
And that's where the real harm comes.
In pushing ivermectin, these folks don't recommend or provide COVID treatments that do actually work, like Paxlovid and Remdesivir!
More on Ivermectin for COVID
- Did the CDC Move the Goalposts With New COVID Guidance?
- Did COVID Vaccines Cause More Deaths Than They Saved?
- FDA - Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19
- FDA cautions against use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems
- The Problem with Dr. John Campbell and Ivermectin
- Misinformation, Trust, and Use of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19
- Ivermectin - NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines
- Ivermectin: How false science created a Covid 'miracle' drug
- Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19
- Horse dewormer ivermectin still doesn’t work for COVID
- Higher doses of ivermectin still useless against COVID-19
- The science behind why Ivermectin is NOT a miracle cure for COVID
- The Real Scandal About Ivermectin
- How ivermectin became the new focus of the anti-vaccine movement
- Ivermectin shown ineffective in treating COVID-19, according to multi-site study including KU Medical Center
- No, FDA did not 'quietly approve' ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment
- The FDA didn’t reverse course. Ivermectin is still not approved as a COVID-19 treatment.
- Ivermectin’s race is run as studies all point to the same conclusion
- “Ivermectin Research Has a Big Fraud Problem, Scientists Say Numerous studies suggesting ivermectin can treat or prevent covid-19 have dodgy data behind them, according to an international group of researchers.”
- Ivermectin Grifters
- An Ivermectin Influencer Died. Now His Followers Are Worried About Their Own ‘Severe’ Symptoms.
- Coronavirus: 2 deaths linked to ivermectin in New Mexico, officials say
- Americans Are Poisoning Themselves With This Unapproved COVID Drug
- ‘What Price Was My Father’s Life Worth?’ Right-Wing Doctors Are Still Peddling Dubious COVID Drugs
- How ‘America’s Frontline Doctors’ Sold Access to Bogus COVID-19 Treatments—and Left Patients in the Lurch
