Ivermectin COVID-19 Treatment Controversy

Submission 30,229

Part of a series on COVID-19 Pandemic. [View Related Entries]

For up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 coronavirus, including prevention and treatment, please visit CDC.gov.

Overview

Ivermectin is a medication used to fight parasite infestations in both animals and humans. In August 2021, the FDA officially advised against using ivermectin as a way to treat COVID-19 after a growing number of reports that people were using ivermectin drugs intended for livestock when they could not obtain prescriptions despite scientific evidence for its effectiveness against the coronavirus in humans being experimental. These reports led to a series of memes in late August, which were used to troll online communities that had been dedicated to ivermectin.

Background

Ivermectin is on the WHO's list of essential medicines as a way to treat parasitic worms. According to a 2020 article in Trends in Parasitology^[1] by Martin et.al., ivermectin works because it kills invertebrates without having the same effect on mammals unless the dose is too large.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some early studies suggested ivermectin as a possible treatment for the virus, though further trials have led the WHO^[2] to call these results "inconclusive" and advise against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19, which could be dangerous in humans at the needed dosage levels.^[3] Beginning in 2020, people who opposed taking the COVID-19 vaccines began to recommend and seek out ivermectin as an alternative way to treat the disease.^[4]

Development

An early source of visibility for ivermectin as a drug that could allegedly both treat and prevent COVID-19 came on Bret Weinstein's "DarkHorse" podcast, where hosts Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying began supporting the practice in spring 2021. For example, on May 15th, Weinstein took a prescription dosage of ivermectin during a livestream of the podcast.^[5]

On August 26th, 2021, the CDC^[6] issued an official warning against using any ivermectin drugs, especially ones not made for humans, to treat COVID-19. According to the warning, many people who wanted to use ivermectin but could not find a prescription would use over-the-counter ivermectin drugs made for livestock as an alternative. As of July 2021, poison control centers across the U.S. had received five times as many reports of ivermectin overdoses than before the pandemic.

/r/Ivermectin Subreddit Trolling

Beginning the weekend of August 24th, 2021, Reddit users began targeting the subreddit /r/ivermectin,^[7] which had been created on April 3rd, 2020, by people who supported the use of the medication to treat COVID-19. They flooded the subreddit with both official medical sources and memes.^[8]

Hubby Started Running Fever, I Have The Paste

On August 31st, 2021, a Facebook post in a group for people planning to treat COVID-19 with ivermectin went viral after being reposted on Twitter (seen below).

In the next few days, the nonsensical phrase "hubby started running fever, I have the paste" inspired numerous parodies and snowclones (examples seen below, left and right.

Joe Rogan

On September 1st, 2021, podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan announced via a video (shown below) on Instagram^[9] that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was taking a range of medication, including ivermectin.

The announcement drew significant attention, especially since Rogan had previously voiced skepticism about the dangers of COVID and the benefits of vaccination (examples shown below, left and right, click to enlarge).

Oklahoma Doctor

On September 1st, 2021, local Oklahoma news station KFOR published a story containing an interview with Dr. Jason McElyea, saying that so many people in rural Oklahoma were taking ivermectin not meant for human consumption that it was causing emergency room and ambulance backups.^[10]

The story was picked up by multiple national news organizations, including Rolling Stone,^[12] but multiple hospital systems that Dr. McElyea worked for issued statements saying that, while there were significant backups in the emergency room and ambulance care, ivermectin was not a principal factor. Dr. McElyea later claimed his statements had been taken out of context and mischaracterized in the initial news story.^[11]

Several Twitter users took to the platform to discuss the story and its misinformation, including journalist Glenn Greenwald. On September 6th, 2021, Greenwald posted about the Rolling Stone article on his Twitter^[13] making a correction after the story was proven false, noting that MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow still hadn't corrected her original tweet about the inaccurate story, receiving over 11,700 likes and 4,000 retweets (seen below).

Hubby Started Running Fever. I Have The Paste.

Hubby Started Running Fever. I Have The Paste is a quote from a post in an apparent Ivermectin COVID treatment Facebook group which spread on Twitter due to what users described as its surreal quality. The post was parodied in numerous tweets celebrating its oddity.