Caving to a federal lawsuit filed by three doctors, the FDA has now agreed to a settlement in which the federal agency will delete its now-famous “You are not a horse” social media post that warned the public not to ingest horse de-wormer to fight the Wuhan virus.
The settlement also means the FDA will also remove its more serious online advisory, “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.”
Ivermectin, a parasite-killing antibiotic, is best known for treating serious diseases in Third World countries but some physicians prescribed it to patients to fight the COVID-19 virus, too.
The original version of Ivermectin, which dates back to the 1970s, is used to treat livestock.
Twila Brase is a former registered nurse who leads Citizens Council for Health Freedom, which she founded during the Obama administration to fight government-run health care. During the pandemic, Brase says, the FDA “tried its very best” to block Ivermectin from going from a doctor to the pharmacist and into the hands of patients.
“And now the court's ruled essentially against them,” she says of the FDA and the settlement.
The federal lawsuit was filed in 2022 Dr. Rober Apter, Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, and Dr. Paul Marik. Marik was forced to resign from two hospitals for recommending Ivermectin. Bowden was forced to quit a hospital, too, after she recommended Ivermectin.
The doctors sued the FDA, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, alleging the federal agencies were interfering with their right to practice medicine.
Reminder: India saved lives with 'horse de-wormer'
Even though the pandemic is likely being forgotten as time moves on, the FDA settlement could remind many of those uncertain times, including what happened in doctor’s offices and emergency rooms, and on CNN and in The New York Times.
AFN reported in a September 2021 story how doctors in poverty-stricken India were watching Ivermectin dramatically save their unvaccinated and densely-packed population from the virus. A story in the Indian Express newspaper described how the drug was passed out to everyone from doctors to jail inmates.
Back in the United States, meanwhile, popular podcaster Joe Rogan told his audience CNN was dishonestly reporting he had credited “horse de-wormer” for saving him from the virus.
"They’re making [expletive] up,” Rogan said of the liberal news network. “They keep saying I’m taking horse de-wormer. I literally got it from a doctor.”
The dishonest reporting from CNN, however, was likely coming from its unquestioned reliance on the medical experts at the FDA.
Rogan’s first-hand experience was also mocked by Howard Stern, the foul-mouthed radio host. He lied to his own audience and claimed Rogan had defended taking horse de-wormer.
Stern, sadly echoing the views of many at the time, also said people who don’t take the COVID-19 vaccine deserve to die for refusing to do so.
Stern, a self-described germaphobe, famously avoided the public for two years during the pandemic for fear of catching COVID-19. He announced on the air three months ago he had contracted the China virus.
Brase, who vocally defended doctors’ rights during the pandemic, says the settlement is a victory for the doctors who sued but she is concerned the FDA - like many others - is slipping away from the decisions it made during the pandemic.
“They have not apologized. They have not taken any blame,” she complains.
In fact, in a lengthy statement to CNN about the settlement, the FDA said it "has not changed its position that currently available clinical trial data do not demonstrate that ivermectin is effective against COVID-19."
The FDA, the statement continued, "has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19.”
