Reuters Issues Major Correction to Report Originally Claiming Ivermectin Was Found Effective Against Omicron
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Reuters issued a serious correction to a report that claimed Ivermectin was found to be effective in treating the Omicron variant of Covid.
Reuters initially reported early Monday morning that a Japanese pharmaceutical company had found Ivermectin — an anti-parasitic drug that has been touted as a treatment for Covid but has not been approved by the FDA — effective against the virus in a Phase III trial.
The headline and lede of the original report, which like every Reuters story was syndicated on other major outlets around the world, read as follows:
Japan’s Kowa says ivermectin effective against omicron in phase III trial
Japanese trading and pharmaceutical company Kowa Co Ltd said on Monday anti-parasite drug ivermectin has been found effective for treating the omicron variant of COVID-19 in a Phase III trial.
In a correction, Reuters noted that the drug was not found effective in Phase III clinical trials, but had an “antiviral effect” against Omicron in “non-clinical research.”
A Reuters spokesperson acknowledged the error in a statement to Mediaite.
“The original Reuters story misstated that ivermectin was ‘effective’ against Omicron in Phase III clinical trials, which are conducted in humans,” the spokesperson said. “We corrected this to clarify it had an ‘antiviral effect’ against Omicron and it was shown in joint non-clinical research. After being made aware of the error, we corrected our story immediately.”
As political analyst Arieh Kovler noted on Twitter, it was already known that Ivermectin had an antiviral effect against previous strains of Covid. But having an antiviral effect in a lab does not mean that the drug works to treat or prevent Covid.
The thing is, we already knew that Ivermectin shows antiviral properties against Sars-CoV-2 in a test tube. We’ve known that for months. That’s why people initially thought it might be a treatment for Covid, until trials showed it didn’t help. https://t.co/Si3YEohlxo pic.twitter.com/PurHwoV0y9
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022
The Kowa press release says, basically, “you know how Ivermectin has an antiviral effect on Covid in a test tube? That still works for Omicron”. Which, again, isn’t surprising. The reverse would have been a much bigger surprise. pic.twitter.com/ePWR4ezug1
— Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler) January 31, 2022
Kovler suggested that Reuters had misread the Kowa press release — which mentioned an ongoing Phase III trial — and mistakenly conflated that trial with the lab finding about Ivermectin.
The antiviral drug has been touted as a Covid treatment most prominently by media vaccine skeptics like Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Joe Rogan, who used Ivermectin during his bout with Covid.
Ingraham tweeted out a link to the Reuters report on Monday, before it was corrected.
REUTERS: Japan’s Kowa says ivermectin effective against Omicron in phase III trial https://t.co/cd0e0X0boS
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) January 31, 2022
Last month, the FDA advised against using Ivermectin to treat Covid, noting “Currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19.”
“The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals,” the FDA said. “Ivermectin is approved for human use to treat infections caused by some parasitic worms and head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.”
