Despite dangerous claims from right-wing media personalities, the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin did not reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Ivermectin has received a lot of attention as a potential treatment for Covid-19 including from celebrities such as podcast host Joe Rogan. Most evidence has shown it to be ineffective against Covid-19 or has relied on data of poor quality, infectious-disease researchers said. Public-health authorities and researchers have for months said the drug hasn’t shown any benefit in treating the disease. Taking large doses of the drug is dangerous, the Food and Drug Administration has said.
The latest trial, of nearly 1,400 Covid-19 patients at risk of severe disease, is the largest to show that those who received ivermectin as a treatment didn’t fare better than those who received a placebo.
There was no indication that ivermectin is clinically useful.
Edward Mills, lead researcher and a professor of health sciences-Canada’s McMaster University