CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta Astounded People Using Ivermectin for Covid Treatment: ‘It Boggles the Mind’
People have been taking ivermectin to treat Covid, even as many public health officials have warned it has been not proven to be a treatment for Covid and that there are risks associated with taking it.
Ivermectin is generally used to treat parasites in animals like horses. It can be used to treat parasitic worms in humans, but there have been reports of people going to stores that sell ivermectin for animals and purchasing it because they think it will help with Covid-19 symptoms.
There are reports of this happening in states like Iowa, Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi. An Arkansas doctor is currently under investigation for using ivermectin to treat inmates with it.
Ivermectin received national attention after commentary by right-wing commentators, including on Fox News, claiming it was an effective Covid treatment. Things apparently got serious enough for the FDA to issue a warning, including the rather basic fact that there is a difference between ivermectin products used for humans and for animals.
Additionally, the FDA warned, “Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm.”
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta told Jake Tapper Friday “there is not data on this,” and noted that even Merck — which manufactures ivermectin — is saying it is not a covid treatment.
Gupta also pointed out that the vaccines have gone through rigorous trials and there is data backing up their effects, but there is not real data on ivermectin as a Covid treatment.
I think it is worth pointing out the obvious here, Jake, which is that the vaccines have had these huge clinical trials all over the world. Tens of thousands of people enrolled. Months of followup. That’s real data. Ivermectin doesn’t have that. It just — it boggles the mind why people would say, hey, look, we want to take ivermectin because we don’t trust the vaccines, which have all this data and ivermectin really has none.
You can watch above, via CNN.
