Misinformation, Corporate Media, COVID, And Ivermectin.
The Corporate Media (including “professional journalist”) often accuse bloggers and social media users of spreading misinformation on the Internet. However, the Cooperate Media spreads misinformation as often as, if not more often, than bloggers and social media users. For example, in the last two weeks there has been a lot of misinformation about ivermectin and its use in the battle against COVID being spread on the internet - all by Corporate Media.
A little background. It’s true that ivermectin was introduced for animal use in 1981, but its discovery for animal use was the result of researching the drug for human use. In 1987 ivermectin was approved for human use to treat Neglected Tropical Diseases such as Onchocerciasis (river blindness), Lymphatic Filariasis (elephantiasis) and others. In the U.S. it is only approved to be treat a couple of diseases.
Since its introduction the drug has been safely and effectively used worldwide by an estimated 2.6 billion people against an ever growing list of diseases. The drug is so safe and effective against so many diseases that in 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it an essential medicine. Additionally, research over the last nine years has shown ivermectin has “demonstrated antiviral properties against RNA viruses, including influenza, Zika, HIV, Dengue, and most importantly, SARS-CoV-2.” (emphasis mine). Simply put, ivermectin is not a “livestock drug,” but an extremely important drug for humans that also has animal health applications.
Of course, it’s not wise for a person to use any dual use drug, like ivermectin, that was specifically manufactured for animals instead of humans for a number of reasons, two of which are: (1) those manufactured for humans are purer; and (2) dosages and manner of use often differ for human and animal. I’ve read of people eating ivermectin paste that is made for topical use on horses. Not a good idea, to the contrary it’s an extremely stupid idea.
Early in the COVID pandemic ivermectin was identified as a possible drug to treat and prevent the transmission of the virus. In July The American Journal of Therapeutics published the results of a scientific review of twenty-four peer reviewed studies involving 3,406 participants. The conclusion? The use of Ivermectin reduced the risk of contracting COVID by 86% and significantly reduced the risk of death in those who had contracted the virus. A second scientific review of 18 peer reviewed studies published in the American Journal of Therapeutics in April found similar results.
More impressive is in May 2020 the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) with a population of 237.9 million people began to use ivermectin not only as a treatment, but also as a means to prevent COVID. As of September 6, 2021 UP’s 7-day average death rate from COVID was .0198/100,000. On September 3, The CDC reported the U.S. 7-day average death rate was 2.35/100,000 - 11.9 times high than UP’s rate. Equally impressive is the daily new COVID cases in UP - .0175/100,000 compared to the U.S. rate of 316.94/100,000 population. Other Indian states that use ivermectin, such as Delhi and Bihar, have achieved similar if not better results.
These results are even more stark when you consider vaccination rates. As of September 6th, only 5.8% of UP’s population had been fully vaccinated and 26.8% had received at least one dose. As of September 3rd the vaccination rate in the U.S. was 53% fully vaccinated and 62.3% having received at least one dose.
Is ivermectin an effective drug against COVID? I’m not sure, but at the very least it looks very promising. It is also approved for human use and is safe when used as prescribed. Though not approved for treatment of COVID, it is common and legal for doctors to prescribe approved drugs for off-label use.
Having said that, if anyone is considering using ivermectin I would strongly suggest talking to your doctor and certainly stay away from eating horse paste.
So, how is Corporate Media covering ivermectin as a possible drug in the fight against COVID? First up, the well known perpetual victim, Jim Acosta of CNN and Dr. Fauci.
Notice the chyron at the bottom of the video stating Joe Rogan took the “widely discredited livestock drug for COVID.” The only true part of the statement is Rogan took the drug for COVID. They fail to note that he took ivermectin manufactured for human use and it was prescribed to him by his doctor. The rest is simply false, he did not take a “livestock drug.”
The claim that ivermectin is “widely discredited” is also false, or if you prefer, “misinformation.” To the contrary, available information indicates it may be highly effective against COVID. The furthest the FDA, National Institute of Health, and WHO are willing to go, is to state that there is insufficient data to approve ivermectin as a treatment for COVID, which is far from discrediting the drug.
In the video Dr. Fauci responds to a question with “Disinformation and misinformation is really a very serious issue when it comes to a public health issue…in which it is essential to get correct information out…”1 It is ironic that Fauci spreads misinformation in condemning the spreading of misinformation. Doctor heal they-self…or retire, either works for me.
Next a Corporate Media fabrication that went viral. On September 1, a local Oklahoma news show ran an interview with a Dr. Jason McElyea, a rural doc, who claimed that the hospital ERs in the area were being swamped by people overdosing on ivermectin. The good Doc informed us that “[t]he ERs are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated.”
The story was then picked up by Rolling Stone who tweeted:
Other Cooperate Media outlets then picked up the story including - Business Insider, The Hill, New York Daily News, Newsweek, The Guardian (UK), The Daily Mail (UK). Then the verified non-expert experts on twitter started spreading it, including the queen of misinformation Rachel Maddow (MSNBC). Upshot - literally millions of people were informed that those knuckle draggers from Oklahoma were needlessly endangering people who needed emergency care because they were eating ivermectin horse paste in a panicked and futile attempt to fight COVID.
Just a slight problem - it’s all false, fake news, or misinformation - take your pick. The hospital put out a statement that the good Doc has not worked at the hospital in over two months, and the hospital has not treated any ivermectin overdoses. Oh yea, the station that ran the initial interview on September 1, also has an article on its website dated August 25 reporting that since May the Oklahoma Center for Poison and Drug Information has “received reports of 11 people being exposed to ivermectin. Most developed relatively minor symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and dizziness…” Don’t they even read their own website? Besides eleven dizzy stupid people do not make a crisis.
Just thinking out loud here, but could not the local TV station peeps have jumped in their newsmobile, drove to the hospital, and checked for themselves? You know, do some actual journalism stuff. As for the national news, why not call a couple of hospitals in Oklahoma and check? I know they probably don’t want to travel to flyover country, but calling is not really going there. Finally, who in their right mind would run anything that was published in the Rolling Stone after they ran the University of Virginia rape article that was completely false and cost them millions to settle? Journalism is hard.
Next up - the AP put out a story dated August 23 stating that 70% of recent calls to the Mississippi Poison Control Center (MPCC) were from people taking ivermectin to combat COVID. Pretty scary yea? No. The AP issued a correction. Turns out less than 2% of the calls to the MPCC were about ivermectin, so where did that 70% come from? Well, 70% of the 2% of calls involving ivermectin were from people who had actually taken ivermectin. The Washington Post, NPR, ABC and others ran this article - which as of Sep 7 are still on the Internet without the AP’s correction.
I get it, everyone makes mistakes. But the misinformation being put out by Corporate Media is beyond mistakes. Acosta and Fouci ignored readily available facts and told a false story in order promote their agenda - ivermectin is bad. Rolling Stone, AP, and the others ran with false stories they thought would discredit a drug and the people advocating for it, without picking up the phone to check their facts. Then they turn around and cry about bloggers and social media users posting what the Corporate Media deems misinformation and demanding those who they deem guilty be banned from all Internet platforms. No wonder people hate Corporate Media.
This comes from a person who lied about masks; lied about heard immunity; lied about funding the Wuhan lab; was wrong in dismissing those who believed COVID came from a lab as conspiracy theorist; was wrong on Jan 26, 2020 when he clamed the virus was “a very, very low risk to the United States;” was wrong that it would take “two weeks to flatten the curve;” was wrong about the length of time vaccines would be effective; was wrong about the effectiveness of vaccines; and consistently wants to revoke our liberties in the name of the public good, while consistently changing the definition of “public good.” Just how the hell is this guy still employed, let alone thought of by many to be an “expert?”