Note – Ivermectin is a prescription drug approved for treating certain tropical diseases in humans and animals. Ivermectin has not been approved for use in treat Covid-19. Veterinary ivermectin is provided in doses appropriate to animals, not humans, and using it on humans can cause serious illness, including hospitalization. A far better and lower risk way to address Covid-19 in humans is to get vaccinated.

According to the US National Institutes of Health, Ivermectin is a drug used to

Ivermectin is a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antiparasitic drug that is used to treat several neglected tropical diseases, including onchocerciasis, helminthiases, and scabies.¹ It is also being evaluated for its potential to reduce the rate of malaria transmission by killing mosquitoes that feed on treated humans and livestock.² For these indications, ivermectin has been widely used and is generally well tolerated.^1,3 Ivermectin is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of any viral infection.

According to the media, Ivermectin is a veterinary drug used solely to treat horses or livestock – with no mention that it is approved for human use (Albeit, not for viral infections). Several news reports have referred to the drug solely as a “horse dewormer”.

The inventor of Ivermectin received the 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine for its treatment for tropical diseases. How could a competent reporter or editor miss this? This was well known pre-Covid-19 – read more here.

Take a look at this fake news story from the Independent – which refers to the drug only as a horse dewormer.

These headlines are a creation of the media, which falsely implies this is solely a veterinary drug. These news reports are false. It is true that the FDA has not approved its use for treating Covid-19 – but in the real world, doctors do use drugs for “off label” treatments.

The Daily Mail, thankfully, gets the story correct: “Expert says Ivermectin has no effects in fighting viral diseases but drug is safe”.

The rest are media bull shit:

I have no opinion on the use of Ivermectin. Why should I? I know nothing about the drug and its applicability to treating anyone. I do have an opinion on the misleading headlines and news stories that are written not to inform but to propagandize you in to adopting their political beliefs.

Many drugs are authorized for use in both humans and animals. The identical drug is often priced substantially differently too.

A relative has been prescribed a medication for an eye condition with a drug cost of $375 per month. The exact same drug, when prescribed for use in dogs, is about $3.75 per month. They are the same drug. (And this relative knows what he is taking about – he has a PhD in virology and his wife is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.)

It seems very strange that someone would opt to take unproven medications to treat Covid-19, while simultaneously avoiding, by now, well demonstrated vaccine effectiveness. This indicates unclear thinking on the part of the patient. Vaccines are inexpensive, highly effective and avoid the underwhelming majority of people getting very sick, hospitalized or dying. On my other blog at coldstreams.com, I have consistently said that all those who can get vaccinated, should do so. The comments in this post are about the highly biased news reporting – so biased that it is misinformation.