Like the proponents of the so-called lab-leak theory, advocates for treatments for COVID-19 such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin have been dismissed and mocked ovder the past year.
Now, with the lab-leak theory being taken seriously, the two drugs are gaining credibility in establishment institutions as a safe and effective response to the global pandemic.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported the University of Oxford is testing ivermectin as a possible treatment for COVID-19 as part of a British government-backed study.
The university said ivermectin, an antiparasitic, resulted in a reduction of virus replication in laboratory studies. And a small pilot study showed that giving the drug early could reduce viral load and the duration of symptoms in some patients with mild COVID-19.
Worldwide, more than 50 peer-reviewed studies have shown the effectiveness of ivermectin as a treatment and prophylaxis against COVID-19. A recent study by the American Journal of Therapeutics that analyzed 18 randomized controlled treatment trials found ivermectin elicited “large, statistically significant reductions in mortality, time to clinical recovery, and time to viral clearance” in COVID patients.
‘That’s the way science works’
Known for his congressional testimony about the effectiveness of ivermectin, Dr. Pierre Kory is urging White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci to reconsider his opposition to ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment.
Kory, the chief medical officer of the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance, or FLCCC, noted Wednesday in a tweet Fauci’s statement in a recent interview hat it’s “essential as a scientist that you evolve your opinion and your recommendations based on the data as it evolves … that’s the way science works.”
FLCCC responded: “So now that irrefutable scientific data says ivermectin prevents and treats every state of COVID-19 disease, please immediately announce the evolution of your opinion on ivermectin. Lives are at stake.”
The World Health Organization, and European and U.S. regulators have advised against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19. But it is being used effectively in some countries, including India.
Last month, as WND reported, a significant decrease in cases in India coincided with the national health ministry’s promotion of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine treatments.
And a citywide initiative in Mexico City to prescribe ivermectin to COVID-19 patients resulted in a plunge in hospitalizations and deaths, two studies found. A study in Peru found that in the 24 Peruvian states that adopted early use of ivermectin treatment, excess deaths plummeted on average by 59% just 30 days after the peak death rate. And it had dropped 75% after 45 days in those over 60 years old.
‘Intellectual authoritatarianism’
In a video podcast interview June 8, Kory discussed the establishment’s suppression and demonization of ivermectin with Bret Weinstein, the former Evergreen State College professor has become a popular social-media voice on civil-liberty issues along with Jordan Peterson and others.
Weinstein decried what he described as “a kind of intellectual authoritatarianism.”
That censorship, he said, is “so bizarre in a complex system like medicine, especially in the context of a brand new disease that we’re all not experts in.”
“There are no experts that we can simply default to. Everybody’s a novice,” Weinstein said.
Kory latched on to the term “intellectual authoritarianism,” recounting his experience over the last year as certain treatment protocols were forced on physicians while others were suppressed and ridiculed.
“You couldn’t actually doctor, and suddenly I felt like I was being handcuffed.” he said. “It was bizarre. I’ve never seen that in my life before.”
Many of the authorities who have been blocking certain treatments are not on the front lines treating patients with COVID-19, Kory argued.
“They are not sweating it out, seeing day to day the manifestations, the responses to therapy, the lack of responses,” he said. “They don’t understand this disease, and yet they are telling everyone how to treat it.”
See a segment of the video podcast interview with Dr. Pierre Kory:
‘Large, statistically significant reductions in mortality’
A peer-reviewed study released in February found that invermectin reduces coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths by about 75%.
In more than 30 trials around the world, the drug caused “repeated, consistent, large magnitude improvements in clinical outcomes’ at all stages of the disease,” according to the study, which was published in the U.S. American Journal of Therapeutics.
The evidence is so strong, the researchers believe, the anti-parasitic drug should become a standard therapy everywhere, hastening global recovery.
In a live Zoom conference May 13, Kory showed the promising data from various states in India in the two weeks after ivermectin was promoted. Video of the conference was posted on YouTube, but the Google video platform later deleted it for violating its “community guidelines.”
In a Senate hearing in December, Kory presented evidence that ivermectin prevents infection and saves lives.
“Although we, like many, are extremely encouraged by the apparent successes in developing effective vaccines, we also are dismayed at the near complete absence of guidance and research on effective early, at-home, or preventative treatment options apart from vaccines, a reality we find unconscionable,” he said in his statement.
Kory said he and his colleagues are “worried that if our call to action is not followed through, confidence in our health care leaders and agencies will be irreparably tarnished.”
“Inaction in front of mounting evidence of safety and effectiveness during a catastrophic pandemic may also compromise widespread vaccination support,” he warned.
“We will look back to the impact that actions versus inaction had on the U.S. and the globe two months from now,” Kory said. “If we do nothing, the present trend will continue. History will judge.”
See testimony of a life saved by ivermectin:
Politicization of treatments
Dr. Harvey Risch, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine, is another of the many health experts who decry the politicization of COVID-19 treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
“You can hardly believe what anybody says anymore,” Risch said in an interview in December with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “We’ve lost 300,000 lives in the United States because our government has basic told everyone to go home, stay home, and if you can’t breathe, go to the hospital.”
That’s not a form of treatment, he said, “it’s what we call therapeutic nihilism.”
He said the federal government, through the FDA, CDC and National Institutes of Health, have misrepresented the benefits of the drugs.
“These are drugs that everywhere else in the world they are being used very effectively,” he said.
Risch contends the COVID-19 mortality rate is five times lower in the Third World “because that’s all they can afford to do.”
“And we’re here twiddling our thumbs and telling everyone to stay home. It’s absurd,” he said.
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