Republican Lawmakers Question Attacks on Ivermectin as COVID-19 Treatment

A group of Republican lawmakers is supporting doctors who advocate for the right to use ivermectin, an inexpensive antiparasitic drug, for treating COVID-19.

Federal health agencies also issued warnings recently to prevent the use of the drug, stating that "Adverse effects associated with ivermectin misuse and overdose are increasing." Critical care physician Pierre Kory describes correctly administered ivermectin as "a gift" in the fight against COVID-19.

During the briefing, Kory claimed that ivermectin has helped reduce COVID-19 deaths by 88 percent with early treatment and cases of hospitalization by about 75 percent, based on data from Mexico City and Misiones, a province in Argentina where a large number of patients were treated with ivermectin.

"How many lives could have been saved had our federal health agencies robustly explored all these generic drugs?" Ivermectin is an FDA-approved antiparasitic drug that has been used safely for more than three decades in the treatment of certain worm infections.

The two doctors who developed ivermectin received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2015 "For improving the health and wellbeing of millions of individuals with River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, primarily in the poorest regions of the world." While ivermectin wasn't developed to treat viruses, an increasing number of doctors around the world believe in the efficacy of the drug against COVID-19.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, a member of the Freedom Caucus and one of the supporters of allowing people the right to try ivermectin, criticized federal agencies and the media for smearing the drug as a "Horse treatment." In an interview with The Epoch Times, Gohmert called the efforts to suppress the use of ivermectin as "Dishonesty," which is preventing people from having access to an FDA-approved drug that is inexpensive and widely available.

The FDA warned that it hasn't yet approved ivermectin "For use in preventing or treating COVID-19." The agency stated that the "Currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective" against the virus, adding that the clinical trials are ongoing.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_morningbrief/republican-lawmakers-question-attacks-on-ivermectin-as-covid-19-cure_4021773.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mb-2021-09-29&mktids=cfd9ba0d5a1cea6c8d4be663921c6b70&est=OYPxWBI8mLhc4Y