SciCheck Digest
In response to a civil suit, lawyers for the Food and Drug Administration described the agencyâs warnings about the unapproved use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 as ârecommendations.â Although that description doesnât reveal new information, some conservative outlets have falsely claimed itâs an âoutrageousâ revelation and a change in the FDAâs position.
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The number of ivermectin cases reported to poison control centers increased markedly in the summer of 2021, as peddlers of https://www.factcheck.org/2021/04/scicheck-idaho-doctor-makes-baseless-claims-about-safety-of-covid-19-vaccines/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>medical https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/scicheck-indiana-doctor-piles-on-bogus-covid-19-claims-in-viral-video/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>misinformation promoted its use as a treatment for COVID-19 despite a lack of evidence and advice to the contrary from public health agencies.
As weâve https://www.factcheck.org/2021/09/scicheck-ongoing-clinical-trials-will-decide-whether-or-not-ivermectin-is-safe-effective-for-covid-19/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>explained, ivermectin is approved for human use as an anti-parasitic drug and is also widely available in different formulations for veterinary use.
In March 2021, however, the Food and Drug Administration https://web.archive.org/web/20210305163946/https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>said that it had âreceived multiple reports of patients who have required medical support and been hospitalized after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for horses.â
The FDA explained that using drugs that havenât been approved to treat a particular disease âcan cause serious harm.â The agency described some of the potential consequences of unauthorized ivermectin use, specifically warning about the highly concentrated versions of the drug made for horses.
But by the summer of 2021, ivermectin had been embraced in an increasingly politicized response to the pandemic, with https://www.statnews.com/2022/07/26/ivermectin-has-become-a-popular-treatment-for-long-covid-with-a-push-from-doctors-with-ties-to-right-wing-political-groups/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>conservative politicians and groups promoting the drug.
From early July through mid-August 2021, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2789363″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>prescriptions for ivermectin had reached a https://perma.cc/4SST-S7Q2″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>24-fold increase over pre-pandemic levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Poison Data System recorded an https://web.archive.org/web/20211006093810/https://piper.filecamp.com/uniq/ZO3aGrYGXdIUhiJ7.pdf” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>eightfold increase in reported ivermectin cases from August 2020 to August 2021.
On Aug. 21, 2021, the FDA https://perma.cc/B5N7-7QCB” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>tweeted a link to its webpage about ivermectin and COVID-19 â which was titled âWhy You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19â â and included this message: âYou are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, yâall. Stop it.â
That tweet is now the focus of a https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/AmendedComplaintFDA.pdf” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>lawsuit brought by three doctors who have advocated the use of ivermectin. They argue that federal agencies interfered with their ability to practice medicine by publishing advisories against the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
Doctors commonly prescribe medications for https://www.ahrq.gov/patients-consumers/patient-involvement/off-label-drug-usage.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>off-label uses, and, in this case, the plaintiffs argued that the FDAâs posts about using ivermectin to treat COVID-19 essentially limited their ability to prescribe it for that purpose.
The doctors â one of whom is an ear, nose and throat doctor who was suspended from practicing at a Houston hospital after she refused to take on new patients who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 â have received support from Americaâs Frontline Doctors, a group that has peddled false information about the pandemic.
The Epoch Times â a conservative media outlet https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>owned https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB108190438992282143″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>by a Chinese religious group â published a story on Nov. 19 about a recent court hearing in the case with the https://perma.cc/MZ75-FK7U” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>headline: âFDA Says Telling People Not to Take Ivermectin for COVID-19 Was Just a Recommendation.â
The conservative website the Gateway Pundit picked up the claim and took it a step further, posting a https://perma.cc/M389-7929″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>headline that said: âOutrageous! FDA Backtracks During Trial and Now Claims âNot Taking Ivermectin for COVID-19â was Merely a Recommendation.â
Social media users have shared screenshot https://perma.cc/G3CB-BTWU” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>memes of those headlines with comments https://perma.cc/LH8C-Z6CR” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>such as, âLOCK THEM UP!â (The doctorsâ lawsuit is civil, not criminal. So, regardless of the outcome, nobody is going to be locked up.)
But, contrary to the online backlash, the FDAâs description of its online posts as ârecommendationsâ doesnât reveal anything new.
The headlines are based on arguments made during a hearing for the FDAâs https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/FDAmotiontodismiss.pdf” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>motion to dismiss the case.
âThe cited statements simply communicated FDAâs recommendations regarding the use of ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19,â lawyers representing the FDA wrote in their motion to dismiss the case. âThey âneither require[d] nor forb[ade] any action on the part ofâ Plaintiffs or anyone else.â
The FDAâs lawyers also pointed out that although the doctors bringing the case allege that the statements interfered with their ability to practice medicine, the doctors also said that they continued to prescribe ivermectin for COVID-19 patients despite the FDAâs online posts.
The FDAâs description in court of its posts as recommendations didnât constitute a change in the administrationâs position.
Weâve https://www.factcheck.org/2021/05/scicheck-websites-and-social-posts-misrepresent-cdc-directors-comments-on-breakthrough-deaths/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>written https://www.factcheck.org/2022/08/scicheck-widespread-claims-misrepresent-effectiveness-of-covid-19-vaccines/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>before about how partisans and misinformation peddlers twist or misrepresent statements from public health officials in an effort to make it seem like something nefarious happened.
The FDAâs website still explains why people shouldnât use ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, and the National Institutes of Health recommends against its use for the disease, except for clinical trials.
As weâve explained, randomized clinical trials have repeatedly found that ivermectin does not benefit COVID-19 patients.
Editorâs note: https://www.factcheck.org/covid-misconceptions/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-auth=”NotApplicable” data-linkindex=”0″>SciCheckâs COVID-19/Vaccination Project is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation has https://www.factcheck.org/2021/04/scicheck-and-our-committment-to-transparency/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>no control over FactCheck.orgâs editorial decisions, and the views expressed in our articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation. The goal of the project is to increase exposure to accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines, while decreasing the impact of misinformation.
Sources
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Goldhill, Olivia. âhttps://www.statnews.com/2022/07/26/ivermectin-has-become-a-popular-treatment-for-long-covid-with-a-push-from-doctors-with-ties-to-right-wing-political-groups/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Encouraged by right-wing doctor groups, desperate patients turn to ivermectin for long Covid.â Stat. 6 Jul 2022.
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https://www.factcheck.org/2022/11/fda-did-not-change-position-on-ivermectin-use-contrary-to-online-claims/”>