Dr Gorsi Debunks Ivermectin’s Effectiveness Against COVID-19

Cancer surgeon David Gorski writes at Science-Based Medicine:

intubation, mechanical ventilation, ventilator — Lives are at stake

A couple of months ago Scott Gavura explained why the veterinary deworming drug ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, a repurposed drug touted as a “miracle cure” for COVID-19 despite evidence that is, at best, very weak and, at worst, supportive of the conclusion that ivermectin is ineffective against COVID-19. Then, two weeks ago, I posted a typically lengthy, detailed, and snarky article about how ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine. What I meant was that, just as 12-15 months ago the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine was the repurposed drug touted as a “miracle cure” for COVID-19 that fizzled when tested with rigorous clinical trials, over the first half of 2021 ivermectin has become the repurposed drug touted as a “miracle cure” for COVID-19. Like hydroxychloroquine, which by the end of last summer I was describing as the Black Knight of COVID-19 treatments, an homage to (of course) the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, belief in ivermectin as a highly effective treatment for COVID-19—that will eliminate the need for vaccines, too!—seems similarly immune to having its limbs hacked off by science, the way that they were for hydroxychloroquine. This post won’t be as long—although it might be as snarky—and will deal more with the conspiracy theories that have cropped up around ivermectin. Unsurprisingly, they’re very similar to the conspiracy theories that cropped up around hydroxychloroquine. Many of these conspiracy theories are being promoted by a group of doctors who bill themselves as the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC).

I don’t recall Gorski in the article addressing the reasons that physicians and scientists would be promoting ivermectin if it doesn’t work. Dr Joseph Mercola’s in it for the money. Probably Mike Adams, too. But for legitimate practicing physicians and scientists, I can’t see any financial pay-off. Could they be motivated simply by fame, notoriety, or drama? How about a straightforward difference of opinion on how to interpret the data, which happens routinely among scientists and physicians?

Steve Parker, M.D.