Court says FDA must take down its ‘You are not a horse’ ad campaign against Ivermectin

By LINDA BOYLE

Do you remember in 2021 how crazy and hostile the FDA and CDC were over Americans turning to Ivermectin to treat Covid?  People who could not get “human” Ivermectin resorted to “horse paste” Ivermectin, they were so desperate to treat Covid-19.  

The federal government discredited the use of any Ivermectin to treat Covid-19. Why? Possibly because it would have been difficult to get Emergency Use Authorization for Moderna and Pfizer “vaccines” if there had been a safe, effective, and cheap treatment available.

Finally, the FDA has settled the lawsuit over its misinformation campaign. Of course, the FDA has not admitted to any wrongdoing, nor does it agree with the ruling.   

Read this study on Ivermectin treatments for early Covid.

Many of us found a way to get Ivermectin pills and used them to treat Covid. We also had a few brave doctors who were willing to risk their licenses to practice medicine.  

Even today, doctors are losing their licenses to practice, or having their licenses restricted, including Dr. Ryan Cole whose license in Washington state was restricted last month by the Washington Medical Board.  

Dr. Meryl Nass of Maine has had her license suspended for two years by the Maine Medical Board. 

Their crime?  Misinformation and using Ivermectin to treat Covid.  

Back in September of 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court determined the FDA did not have the authority to say one shouldn’t take Ivermectin as the FDA is not a physician.  

The court said the FDA “overstepped its authority with a campaign warning people not to take the drug.” 

Drs. Robert Apter and Mary Talley Bowden who brought the lawsuit stated between them they had treated about 9,000 Covid patients with a survival rate of 99% with the use of Ivermectin. 

Dr. Paul Marik was also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. He resigned from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2021 after being attacked over his used of Ivermectin and other Covid-19 treatments. Marik said drugs like Ivermectin, originally an anti-parasite medicine whose creators won the Nobel Prize for formulating, is a safe and effective way to treat patients in the early stages of Covid, and was a low-cost and low-risk alternative to other treatments.

When the FDA began a public relations campaign in the spring of 2021 it mentioned people using large doses of the drug intended for livestock.  

The FDA sent letters to state medical boards and pharmacy boards warning against the use of Ivermectin to treat Covid, saying the use of high doses was dangerous. This warning prevented these doctors from using appropriate amounts of Ivermectin to treat patients. It also led to disciplinary actions being taken against them. 

“The FDA’s campaign, coupled with their advocacy of ivermectin, caused them problems: A major Houston hospital system forced Talley Bowden to resign her privileges; Apter was referred to physician regulatory boards of Arizona and Washington state for discipline; Marik was forced to resign from his post at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where he was a medical professor and chief of pulmonary and critical care,” a report from Courthouse News says.

Because of the FDA’s campaign, numerous mainstream media outlets ran with the story about using Ivermectin as horse medicine without ever mentioning that Ivermectin also came in a human-appropriate dosage, as a pill, rather than a paste.  More importantly, doctors have the right to use off-label drugs for treatment of other illnesses if they believe them to be effective.  

The FDA has been ordered to take down the consumer social media warning, “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.” 

And the FDA must also delete all social media posts and not repost the posts they placed on various social media pages that read, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” 

The agency is also required to delete and not repost the Instagram post saying, “You are not a horse. Stop it with the #ivermectin. It’s not authorized for treating #COVID,” 

And the FDA must also remove its Twitter post that reads, “Hold your horses, y’all. Ivermectin may be trending, but it isn’t authorized or approved to treat Covid.  

Those doctors who filed this lawsuit and paid a pretty hefty price concerning their licensure said this campaign led to “attempts by the FDA to influence or intervene in the doctor-patient relationship.”  That’s exactly what our Alaska health care providers who believed in early treatment of Covid-19 said.  

For the doctors who filed and won this lawsuit, it finally vindicates those who are doing what doctors should do—preserve their doctor-patient relationship and reiterates “that the FDA overstepped its regulatory authority by trying to dictate appropriate medical care.”

Let’s not forget the role that the mainstream media played in disparaging those who wanted to try to treat Covid with Ivermectin. In a “fact-checking” article in 2021, the Anchorage Daily News wrote:

“Ivermectin meant for livestock was in high demand at some Alaska feed stores after it gained traction on social media as a purported treatment for COVID-19. The FDA has approved ivermectin in both people and animals for some parasitic worms and for head lice and skin conditions — but the FDA hasn’t approved its use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans. The agency has strongly urged people not to use it to treat COVID-19, especially since many were turning to formulations meant for animals, not humans.”

The newspaper continued, attacking Kenai then-Mayor Charlie Pierce and Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, “Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce, who has no background in health or medicine, publicly backed the use of the treatment. Speaking at an Anchorage Rotary Club meeting last week, Bronson claimed the treatment worked very well.

“It’s an approved drug and it’s very effective,” Bronson said. “It’s not a horse pill,” the newspaper reported. Across America journalists with no medical training criticized those who supported Ivermectin as a possible treatment. They pushed the government’s propaganda and have never been held accountable.

The legal settlement to this was a long time coming. Or is this an effort by the federal government to simply sweep away evidence of its wrongdoing when it comes to social media misinformation to make it easier for their next go around for, say, Disease X? 

Just remember, you are not a horse … and the FDA is not your doctor. 

Linda Boyle, RN, MSN, DM, was formerly the chief nurse for the 3rd Medical Group, JBER, and was the interim director of the Alaska VA. Most recently, she served as Director for Central Alabama VA Healthcare System. She is the director of the Alaska Covid Alliance.