Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times reports on the latest study of Ivermectin, a veterinary drug for animals with parasites. The study found that Ivermectin is useless as a treatment for COVID-19. It is a quack treatment that became popular among Republicans. Anything, anything at all, was acceptable to Trumpers except vacccinations developed by reputable companies.
He writes:
The final results are in, and they’re incontrovertible: Ivermectin, that nostrum assiduously promoted by anti-vaccine advocates and conspiracy-mongers, is utterly useless against COVID-19.
That’s the conclusion of a peer-reviewed studyof more than 1,350 COVID patients treated with the drug, which is customarily used to combat parasitic diseases in humans, livestock and pets.
The study was published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, but we reported on it last August.
That’s when one of its principal investigators, Edward J. Mills of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, disclosed the preliminary results during a research symposium. The data he presented then are essentially the same as the final results published by the NEJM.
Mills said then that ivermectin had “no effect whatsoever” on COVID.
Half were given ivermectin for three days and half received a placebo. The goal was to find whether ivermectin reduced the prospect of hospitalization or an emergency room visit due to a worsening of COVID symptoms. The bottom line is that ivermectin had no statistically significant effect.
“We did not find a significantly or clinically meaningful lower risk of medical admission to a hospital or prolonged emergency department observation … with ivermectin,” the study says.
These findings are important because ivermectin has been so assiduously touted by anti-vaxxers and credulous, irresponsible fools such as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has also used Senate hearings to promote hydroxychloroquine, another useless COVID treatment
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I think many horse lovers would take issue with their equine companions being looked on as “fools.” Granted, they’re not as intelligent as humans, but they have many other fine qualities.
Speciesist!😀🐎
Should I clarify that I meant that humans who take horse medicine are fools?
Yes — especially to the horses!😀
After all, in these days of ubiquitous social media, you know how word gets around! Some of these horses are powerful influencers:
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/best-equine-social-media-to-follow-661537
I would not want to hurt the feelings of any horse. I love horses.
❤
Sadly it did not make those who took it any less wormy. On a positive note it was a slight counter to voter suppression. That may not have much affect in a deep Red State too many Yahoos. But in a swing state every lost vote might count.
Sadly most of this is behind a paywall, but invermectin might help a specific group of covid patients. See https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/11/18/ivermectin-may-help-covid-19-patients-but-only-those-with-worms
Ivermectin also helps horses. It is a deworming medicine, so it should deworm horses, humans, dogs, cats, and other livestock.
I can’t read the link you posted,TE, but I do remember something about ivermectin and/or hydrochloroquine attaching to the same spot on a cell as the virus thus preventing the virus from a beach hold. I know I am getting this wrong, but the point is that while the hope was probably farfetched, there was some scientific reasoning behind the idea. It was not quite as crazy as it sounds. I think we do it all the time when we follow the latest superfood or vitamin trend. Someone says. “Hey, isn’t A inecessary for B, so shouldn’t we take …”The difference here is that following the latest folk remedy instead of following medical advice could have gotten you killed.
cx: hydroxychloroquine
Well….aren’t some people ‘parasites’???
I have a pair of parasites!
Every time I go fishing with my son and a lifelong buddy I’ll be catching fish, they aren’t, and the next thing you know those two are standing by my side fishing my area. So. . . I leave and go fish were they were and start catching more fish than them and. . . then they come over and fish my area, again. So I move on, again!
Ivermectin might help. Spray it on them.
While Ivermectin cannot treat Covid effectively, it has to be better than injecting oneself bleach which was once suggested by #45. I remember Dr. Fauci standing behind Trump and not knowing where to look after Trump’s absurd suggestion.
It would have been persuasive if 45 had publicly injected himself with bleach.
I have a good friend who was taking the Ivermectin rabbit hole very seriously earlier in the pandemic. She is not an unscientific person, not a Republican, and certainly not an image that would pop to anyone’s mind when considering the issues related to public health.
What this makes me ask myself is : why does the issue of distrust arise in our society? I can understand why distrust of the medical system arises among those who are less educated. If you do not understand science in general, you will be more likely to distrust science in a particular issue. But my friend is trained in science. Something eroded her confidence in the way science is practiced on the level of the national decision making process.
Before anyone suggests that this is just a personal matter, we should at least wonder if there is not something broken about the way we communicate scientific matters that are increasingly complex and threaten to exaggerate that trend as time goes on.
I have no solutions, but we see a society that is increasingly cynical about many public institutions. We see on this blog many examples of exploitation of this cynicism in education for the purpose of lining the already filled pockets of the wealthy. Is this the problem with distrust of scientific ideas? Do people find it more believable that someone is making money on the proposed solution to the problem?
NSS!
Haaa!
But, ofc, we are not talking here about the extraordinary effectiveness against COVID of Dr. Trump’s hydrochlorquine, Mike Lindell’s extract of oleander, the Oh-so-reverend Jim Bakker’s Silver Solution (colloidal silver), and Bob Shepherd’s All-Natural Homeopathic 100% Pure Patriot Water Everything Cure from an ancient Chinese formula that until now has been the exclusive secret of the Illuminati and the Bilderberg Group. Most homeopathic recipes work by containing miniscule amounts of active ingredients (we’re talking nanoscale amounts). Well, Dr. Bob has gone one better by eliminating active ingredients entirely! This amazing everything cure works by channeling your intentions!!! Thus its effectiveness for treating Everything!
cx: hydroxychloroquine
Diane, if you would like to monetize your WordPress site (and who wouldn’t?!?!?!) by selling Dr. Bob’s Pure Patriot Everything Cure, just let me know. I’ll be happy to cut you in for 0.02 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL PROFITS!!!! I know. Your lucky day.
Thanks, Bob, but the terms are too meager.
OK, Diane. 0.03 percent. And I’ll throw in a free supply for you of Patriot Power for Pups for Mitzy!
Hope I remembered the dog’s name correctly!
Bob, put up an ad on the internet for your all-natural cure-all, and be prepared to watch the orders roll in. First buy some bottles and labels. And be sure you say it’s organic.
Organic? Dr. Bob’s Pure Patriot Power Everything Cure is 120% Intentional Water, and you can’t get more organic than that! Why, you yourself are 80% water! ALL Natural. And ALL Healing. No wonder the Libtards and the medical establishment wants to see us closed down! Get your Dr. Bob’s* Pure Patriot water! Or the Socialists win.
*Dr. Bob is a graduate of the Bob Shepherd School of Homeopathic Medicine and winner of the Bob Shepherd Award for Medical Innovation, 2022.
Diane Ravitch, Ivermectin has more medicinal uses than as just a horse de-worming agent, something you would know if you did your homework instead of relying on baseless fear porn. According to WebMD, Ivermectin is a medication that treats some parasitic diseases. There are two types of the medication. Doctors prescribe one kind for certain health conditions in people, and veterinarians prescribe another that’s safe only for animals. So Ivermectin is used as more than just as a horse de-worming agent.
In people, the FDA has approved prescription Ivermectin tablets to treat two infections caused by parasitic worms: Strongyloidiasis, which can cause problems like belly pain, bloating, heartburn, diarrhea, and rashes. However, most people who catch it don’t have symptoms. Onchocerciasis, also called river blindness, which can bring on an itchy rash, eye disease, or abnormal growths under the skin.
Ivermectin is currently being investigated in a clinical trial as a potential COVID-19 treatment for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Virus, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. The FDA has not approved ivermectin for use in treating or preventing COVID-19 infection in humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommend not to use ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 to reduce viral replication, except in clinical trials.
Experimental studies for ivermectin as an adjunct treatment for antiviral effects of hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients: a randomized multi-center clinical trial. There is currently insufficient evidence from the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel to recommend either for or against the use of ivermectin in Covid-19 patients for the treatment of severe or mild COVID-19 symptoms.
Is Ivermectin safe for humans, and what is it used for? When taken as directed, ivermectin is safe for humans to use. The tablets are taken by mouth to treat intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis, two tropical infections caused by parasitic worms. Topical ivermectin is approved to treat head lice and rosacea.
Greg, why don’t you take Ivermectin and let us know how it works out for you? I’ll stick with vaccines approved by the FDA.
From the FDA:
“Here’s What You Need to Know about Ivermectin
The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals. Ivermectin is approved for human use to treat infections caused by some parasitic worms and head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.
Currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19. Clinical trials assessing ivermectin tablets for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in people are ongoing.
Taking large doses of ivermectin is dangerous.
If your health care provider writes you an ivermectin prescription, fill it through a legitimate source such as a pharmacy, and take it exactly as prescribed.
Never use medications intended for animals on yourself or other people. Animal ivermectin products are very different from those approved for humans. Use of animal ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in humans is dangerous.”
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19#:~:text=Never%20use%20medications%20intended%20for,19%20in%20humans%20is%20dangerous.