When they weren't downplaying the COVID-19 virus that's gone on to kill nearly one million Americans, conservatives across the country were baselessly promoting phony "cures" for those who contracted it.
Former President Donald Trump was one of the worst offenders. He regularly touted the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which is used in humans to treat conditions like roundworm and rosacea. Ivermectin is also the active ingredient in a number of animal deworming treatments.
Trump's fixation on ivermectin trickled down to his supporters, many of whom accused doctors of withholding the supposed cure out of greed. Right-wing Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said at a town hall event last year that the medical industry's "hatred" for Trump made them "unwilling to objectively study" ivermectin.
But contrary to Paul's claims, studies have been done on ivermectin's effectiveness in treating COVID-19, and the results of one large-scale study had some less-than-ideal findings for those insisting ivermectin is a miracle drug.
A recent report from the New York Times revealed that a large scale clinical trial of the drug showed no effectiveness in reducing COVID-19 hospitalization.
The study, published this past Wednesday, used more than 3500 patients, 679 of whom were treated with ivermectin, 679 with a placebo, and 2157 with other treatments.
The report states:
"Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid-19."
What's more, doctors fear that the emphasis on ivermectin and the resources deployed to explore its effectiveness are hemorrhaging resources.
Dr. Paul Sax, an infectious disease expert who did not work on the trial, told the New York Times:
“I welcome the results of the other clinical trials and will view them with an open mind, but at some point it will become a waste of resources to continue studying an unpromising approach."
The report generated widespread discussion on social media, with many calling out the former President and his supporters for baselessly touting its supposed effectiveness.
Ivermectin worked as a cure like Trump worked as President. It didnt work at ALL but that didnt stop people from thinking it did. #CommonSense https://t.co/lTbZbGVP6l
— Victor Ruiz -The Voice Of Rican- (@portarican_RT) March 31, 2022
Ivermectin doesn’t work. How many lives were lost because Trump and the right-wing promoted this as a viable treatment without any evidence?
As usual one party literally gets away with murder https://t.co/koLPm5q7fK
— 𝙶𝚘𝚗𝚣𝚘 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚡 (@roland__do) March 31, 2022
Trump is the only thing that has failed in more trials than Ivermectin https://t.co/f1MzhsMc61
— Dr. Jorge A. Caballero stands with 🇺🇦 (@DataDrivenMD) March 30, 2022
We’ve said this in healthcare for awhile. Trust the science, not the politician trying to Trump the science. https://t.co/Yi6W498YmC
— Robert Cristian Jordan (@TheREALRCJordan) March 31, 2022
Donald Trump is and always has been a liar! https://t.co/GuNQTdDbGA
— Erin Tinker (@ETinker69) March 31, 2022
Twice-impeached former president Donald Trump failed to "drain the swamp" but he did mismanage a deadly pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands Americans needlessly. Thankfully, @POTUS got the pandemic under control and countless lives were saved. #VoteBlueIn2022 https://t.co/qam6HnCnse
— Stan Spak (@stanspak) March 31, 2022
Few were surprised.
Wish I could say this surprises me. https://t.co/fc13p0wCSI
— Kevin Wagner (@KevinWagnerPhD) March 30, 2022
No sheet Sherlock. Trump and his support base got something wrong. You don't say. In other news, sniffing old shoes also doesn't work as a Covid treatment. https://t.co/GnvB7lzudb
— Scott Agnew (@scottagnew) March 30, 2022
Shocking that people like Joe Rogan and stable geniuses like Trump are completely wrong on medical information. Or that the GOP is full of folks who would look to those two for advice- on medical issues or anything else. https://t.co/bbAjpmm8SH
— MT Nickerson (@mt_nickerson) March 31, 2022
Awkward.
