Ivermectin's reputation as a cure-all continues to grow, despite evidence of its ineffectiveness.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Ivermectin is back. Ivermectin is a drug that has gained notoriety as a debunked treatment for COVID. Now, especially in conservative political circles, its reputation as something of a panacea, even for cancer, continues to grow. That is, despite the evidence, it does not work. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports.
YUKI NOGUCHI, AUTHOR: In Mary Jo Perry's experience raising animals, ivermectin is as familiar, safe, cheap and effective as vitamins.
MARIJO PERRY: Oh, we've been using it on the farm for 40 years. And I use it on cattle.
NOGUCHI: Ivermectin fights parasitic infections caused by roundworms, lice and scabies. Perry, who studied animal science, also uses it to treat mange and the stray dogs she rescues near her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi.
PERRY: I've never seen a problem with it.
NOGUCHI: Its reputation as a miracle cure for animal and human diseases began with its discovery in the 1970s. This has led to a decline in the incidence of river blindness worldwide. Initially, scientists hoped that this could help treat COVID-19. Dozens of studies later confirmed that this was not the case. But Perry, speaking at a political event she organized in September, said she doesn't believe the research.
PERRY: I think it prevents COVID. I know this first hand. I tried it three times and then started taking it.
NOGUCHI: And he still does that sometimes.
PERRY: With his help, I took care of my family. Since I started taking it, it hasn't worked for me anymore.
NOGUCHI: Patients started asking New Orleans oncologist Jonathan Mizrachi about ivermectin a year ago.
JONATHAN MIZRAHI: Almost half of my new patients asked me about ivermectin at some point during our first consultation.
NOGUCHI: He was confused.
MIZRAHI: So I thought: Ivermectin? I haven't heard of this since medical school. And I know some people have talked about this in relation to COVID, but I think we've kind of debunked it.
NOGUCHI: The myths, which still circulate online, gained popularity after actor Mel Gibson suggested on Joe Rogan's podcast last January that ivermectin had cured three friends of advanced cancer. Mizrahi says that, combined with growing public distrust of government and medicine, has convinced some patients to reject his advice.
MIZRAHI: I've had several patients who have chosen not to get traditional cancer treatments and instead use drugs like ivermectin, and those are the most heartbreaking ones because these are the patients that we actually have things that can help that are tried and true, and they kind of put all their eggs in a basket that I don't think is going to benefit them.
NOGUCHI: Dr. John Mafi at UCLA specializes in geriatrics and tracks ivermectin prescriptions that doctors can write at their discretion. He found they were especially common in the South and among older people. This wave waned after the pandemic, but resumed in 2024.
JOHN MAFI: I think it's become a symbol of a kind of alt-right movement of challenging what government agencies tell you and trusting your own intuition.
NOGUCHI: Five Republican-led states recently voted to make ivermectin available over the counter. Florida is now funding research into its use in cancer. But Mafi says this is based on politics, not medical belief in the drug's healing powers. Mafi says the drug may have side effects such as dizziness, nausea and itchy skin. But the greatest risk is posed by people who refuse traditional treatment. This happened to one of the young patients of Louisiana oncologist John Mizrahi, who abandoned chemotherapy in favor of ivermectin and another antiparasitic drug, fenbendazole, to treat stage 4 cancer. Mizrahi saw him again a few months later.
MIZRAHI: And I could show him what your CT scan looked like before you started taking ivermectin. Then I could objectively say: hey, look, it didn't work for you. This is the rare case where I can, for example, do a study on one patient and say, “Hey, look, this didn't work.”
NOGUCHI: This patient has resumed recommended treatment. Mizrahi says it's important now to spend time getting to know patients to better understand their fears, sources of information and how policies shape their views on health.
MIZRAHI: The nature of politics today, which really permeates many aspects of people's lives, comes into the exam room. That's true. I mean, there's no doubt about it.
NOGUCHI: And it's increasingly influencing people's medical decisions. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News.
KELLY: And NPR's Katya Riddle contributed to this report.
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