Allegations began circulating on social media last week, claiming that ivermectin had been quietly approved for use as a remedy for COVID-19. Prominent Twitter users have cited a debatable list of the drug among a list of remedies on the official online page of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
First approved in the 1980s, ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug that is prescribed to the fullest to fight parasites such as worms, lice, and scabies. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the drug became popular among anti-vaccine circles as a remedy of choice for the virus, winning the help of others like Joe Rogan, despite the lack of definitive clinical evidence that it was safe and effective.
Due to the growing demand for the drug, some began buying the variant of ivermectin formulated for horses, leading critics to accuse advocates of an “antiparasitic for horses” to treat COVID. Because the horse version of the drug is formulated to be stronger, its use through humans has led to a significant buildup in reports to poison helplines.
These recent highs related to the approval of ivermectin appear to come from a tweet Thursday from Jake Shields, a professional combined martial artist and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump.
Yesterday, the National Institute of Health added ivermectin to the list of covid remedies. It seems that the conspiracy theorist was right and the “experts” once again.
“Yesterday, the National Institute of Health added ivermectin to the list of treatments for covid,” Shields tweeted. “It seems that the conspiracy theorist was right and the ‘experts’ once again. “
His tweet had more than 42,000 likes and nearly 14,000 retweets on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, it was shared through conservative TV host Jesse Kelly, who took a more extreme stance, accusing pharmacists and doctors of homicide for not prescribing ivermectin. Kelly’s tweet garnered nearly 13,000 likes.
Remember when the FDA called ivermectin a “horse dewormer” and pharmacies refused to comply with prescriptions?Yes, all those other people are to blame for the murder. https://t. co/xSMf2S5vB1
“Remember when the FDA called ivermectin a ‘horse dewormer’ and pharmacies refused to stick to prescriptions?” tweeted Kelly. “Yes, all those other people are to blame for the murder. “
The facts
The claims made through conservative figures appear to come from the NIH’s official “COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines” online page. The site includes data on many drugs in clinical trial stages to determine their effectiveness in treating COVID-19.
The online page lists only ivermectin as approved for use in those clinical trials, and states that “it is not recommended to use ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19” in any situation outside of those tests.
The most recent effects of a large-scale test of ivermectin as an NIH-funded treatment for COVID-19 were published in June and revealed that the drug was said not to be particularly effective.
Among more than 1500 participants, 47% of whom won at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, those who gained ivermectin recovered from COVID in an average of 11 days. In comparison, those who won the placebo recovered an average of 11. 5 days.
The NIH Treatment Guidelines online page also states that other studies have warned that sufficient efficacy in treating the virus with ivermectin would require a hundred times the human dose.
The decision
False.
Although approved for use in clinical trials, ivermectin has not been approved as a general use for the treatment of COVID-19. The NIH still opposes its use in this regard.
In addition, trials have uncovered little evidence that the drug has a noticeable effect on COVID-19 recovery time.
Newsweek reached out to the NIH for comment.
FACT-CHECKING BY Newsweek’s Fact-Checking Team
Join the stray newsletters from Newsweek’s million readers