Canadian Press story on ivermectin shows ignorance or bias
Editor:
The Canadian Press demonstrated either its ignorance or its bias in the news story headlined “Premier stands by pick of ‘contrarian’ chair to lead COVID data review” in the April 24 edition of the Lethbridge Herald.
The story’s second-last paragraph states: “Smith questioned the mainstream science approach to the pandemic and endorsed debunked COVID-19 treatments, such as horse dewormer ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.”
A news story crafted with the aim of objectivity might have said it this way: Smith questioned the mainstream science approach to the pandemic and endorsed alternative COVID-19 treatments such as ivermectin, which critics dismissed as “horse dewormer,” and hydroxychloroquine.
Ivermectin actually has a long history as an antiparasitic medication for humans, and is commonly used as such to deal with parasites prevalent in tropical countries. After ivermectin’s discovery in 1975, it was originally used by veterinarians to treat heartworm and acariasis in horses, but was approved for human use in 1987. Since then, it has been used to combat a number of parasite-caused maladies including head lice, scabies, river blindness (onchocerciasis), strongyloidiasis and trichuriasis, to name a few.
Ivermectin’s value as a treatment in humans earned its discoverer, Satoshi Omura of Japan, the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
In a 2017 article in the Journal of Antibiotics, author Andy
Crump noted: “Over the past decade, the global scientific community have begun to recognize the unmatched value of an extraordinary drug, ivermectin, that originates from a single microbe unearthed from soil in Japan . . . . Today, ivermectin is continuing to surprise and excite scientists, offering more and more promise to help improve global public health by treating a diverse range of diseases, with its unexpected potential as an antibacterial, antiviral and anti-cancer agent being particularly extraordinary.”
A December 2023 article in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry said of ivermectin: “There are only a few drugs that can claim the title of ‘Wonder Drug’. Alongside penicillin and aspirin, two drugs that probably had the greatest medicative impact on human health and wellbeing, ivermectin is also a worthy contender for this title as its effect on global health to date has been extraordinary.”Ivermectin is approved by Health Canada “for the treatment of intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis, potentially devastating tropical parasitic infections,” according to a 2018 news release from Health Canada.
In the U.S., the website of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) notes: “Ivermectin is the drug of choice for strongyloidiasis. CDC presumptive overseas ivermectin treatment was initiated in 2005.” This contradicts the message presented by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that ivermectin is only “horse dewormer.”
In fact, the FDA recently settled a lawsuit in which it agreed to remove its social media posts which made that claim in its attempt to discourage the use of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment. Ivermectin is clearly much more than “horse dewormer.”
The Canadian Press writer is welcome to his opinion either way on the matter, but if The Canadian Press seeks to be an objective news agency, it should ensure such bias does not make its way into news stories. Dave Sulz
Coaldale