A U.K. study found that COVID-19 patients who were given ivermectin recovered faster than those who were not given the drug.
Self-reported recovery was two days faster.
The study, published in the Journal of Infection, involved 2,157 ivermectin recipients and 3,256 patients receiving standard care between June 21, 2021, to July 1, 2022.
Patients receiving ivermectin were also less likely to be hospitalized or die. Only 1.6% of patients on ivermectin were hospitalized, compared to 4.4% of those receiving usual care.
Despite patients recovering faster on the antiparasitic drug, the authors concluded that “ivermectin should not be used to treat SARS-Cov-2 infection in the community in high-income countries with a largely vaccinated population.”
The use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 was controversial, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pushing Americans to abstain from the drug.
In a social media post, the FDA wrote, “Hold your horses, y’all. Ivermectin may be trending, but it still isn’t authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.″ Another post read, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.”
Both posts were linked to the FDA’s website with the title, “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.”
American Faith reported that a Federal Court ruled that the FDA abused its authority under law when advising Americans to stop using Ivermectin as a treatment for COVID.
The FDA argued that they were only giving “advice” and it was not mandatory when telling people to “stop” taking ivermectin for the virus.
“The cited statements were not directives,” Isaac Belfer, a lawyer representing the FDA said. “They were not mandatory. They were recommendations. They said what parties should do. They said, for example, why you should not take ivermectin to treat COVID-19. They did not say you may not do it, you must not do it. They did not said it’s prohibited or it’s unlawful. They also did not say that doctors may not prescribe Ivermectin.”
Last August, however Department of Justice lawyer representing the FDA Ashley Cheung Honold stated, “FDA explicitly recognizes that doctors do have the authority to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID.”
