The FDA had a fun time poking fun at people for asking about Ivermectin during the Covid-19 pandemic but now they have to take down all of that condescending content as part of a court settlement.
Most famously, in August of 2021, the FDA Tweeted “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” This was in response to legitimate questions about ivermectin’s use to treat Covid-19. The NHS now admits that “Ivermectin has been shown to inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in cell cultures” but says that the dosage is not appropriate for humans. Even so, government health agencies poked fun of people for asking about ivermectin and they asked social media to punish people for it. On YouTube, we could not say the word “ivermectin” for the risk of having our channel punished.
This case was dismissed but the plaintiffs had accused the FDA of interfering with their ability to practice medicine. Presumably, the FDA will not be allowed to do that again as it relates to ivermectin. The court ruled that “Even tweet-sized doses of personalized medical advice are beyond the FDA’s statutory authority.”
