Fox News hosts and guests have repeatedly promoted ivermectin as a prophylactic or therapeutic treatment for COVID-19 even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization, and ivermectin manufacturer Merck have all warned against using ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19.
There’s been growing evidence against the efficacy of ivermectin, a drug most commonly used to treat animals, in coronavirus treatment. Recently, a popularly cited study about ivermectin as a “miracle” COVID-19 treatment was retracted. The FDA has also highlighted the drug’s “very dangerous” side effects if taken to excess or in combination with other medications -- especially the livestock version, which is highly concentrated and toxic to humans.
In August, poison control centers across the U.S. were overwhelmed with calls about ivermectin. And in states with surging COVID-19, many stores have reported shortages of the drug due to its incorrect usage as a COVID-19 treatment; in Oklahoma, many stores sold out of needed supplies for horses and other livestock. In Mississippi, one person was hospitalized after taking the drug from a livestock feed store to treat COVID-19.
Many right-wing media outlets and grifters have championed ivermectin, citing and amplifying an outlier group of physicians. Various groups on Facebook are promoting ivermectin usage to treat COVID-19, and the platform is doing seemingly nothing to stop them.
Here’s a list of examples of Fox News promoting ivermectin: