Why drug for horses appeals to anti-vaxxers

‘GROUP THINKING’

A health law professor says a belief by some that a medication used to deworm cattle and horses can treat COVID-19 shows how ideology can lead people to embrace misinformation.

Timothy Caulfield from the University of Alberta is a critic of alternative medicine and says it’s fascinating to watch people looking for ivermectin.

“This has really become a story of ideology and in group thinking,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

“It mirrors what went on with hydroxychloroquine. The evidence against it just became so overwhelming that they have decided to put their energy in a new miracle drug — and that’s ivermectin and it’s doing real harm.

“It highlights the power of an ideological lens to allow you to embrace information that is clearly wrong.”

The manager of an Alberta animal feed store said it has been receiving requests for ivermectin, a drug typically used to treat parasitic worms in livestock. It hasn’t been proven as a treatment for COVID-19.

Lance Olson of Lone Star Track and Feed near Calgary said he first started getting calls about the product last November.

“We started to address it to our staff just to make sure we were handling these calls the correct way, because we did notice an uptick in calls,” he said. “I’d say at the peak we were doing five or six calls a week. It’s slowed down slightly since, but there was an uptick at the beginning of July that forced us to pull it off of our shelves.”

Olson said he can’t sell the product to people who do not have a premises identification number, which is required to buy products with an active ingredient.

“It’s law now. We cannot sell it to you or else we get fined.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against using ivermectin, which comes in a tablet for human use to treat parasitic worms or in topical form for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.

“Never use medications intended for animals on yourself. Ivermectin preparations for animals are very different from those approved for humans.”

Health Canada also put out an advisory late Tuesday about “concerning reports of the use of veterinary ivermectin” to prevent or treat COVID-19.

Caulfield said there’s a disconnect between those who won’t get a vaccine, but are willing to ingest a medicine meant for animals.

“It really shows the power that a conspiracy theory mindset can have on how you see the universe,” he said.