Doctors don't want you to see this
On the fake war on ivermectin
I have a new story out in The Atlantic about the long post-pandemic life of ivermectin.
Gift link to read it here.
Remember ivermectin? The animal-deworming medication was used so avidly as an off-label COVID treatment during the pandemic that some feed stores ended up going out of stock. (MUST SHOW A PIC OF YOU AND YOUR HORSE, a sign at one demanded of would-be customers in 2021.) If you haven’t heard about it since, then you’ve existed blissfully outside the gyre of misinformation and conspiracies that have come to define the MAGA world’s outlook on medicine. In the past few years, ivermectin’s popularity has only grown, and the drug has become a go-to treatment for almost any ailment whatsoever. Once a suspect COVID cure, now a right-wing aspirin.
In case you missed them, I also wrote stories on Biden’s cancer diagnosis, Kennedy’s vaccine hypocrisy, and Dr. Oz’s confirmation as CMS administrator.
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Ben
As a veterinarian who regularly prescribes ivermectin (and gives it to my own pets), I have been perplexed to watch it achieve a revered, cure-all status among the MAGA and alternative medicine crowds. Two things can be true at the same time: Ivermectin is a godsend in treating serious parasitic infections in people and animals, and there is little to no evidence it is effective for other random ailments. It's not a censorship campaign by evil doctors, it's just basic science. I'm reminded of the saying: "Everything seems like a conspiracy when you don't know how anything works"
Read it! So appreciate the article and access. I’m a PA in oncology and have had 3 patients either ask about or plan to take Ivermectin in the last month. Disinformation really can kill.