Florida has just announced $60 Million to explore generics like ivermectin to fight cancer. Right now, generics don’t promise big profits, so their uses may go unstudied overlooked. Ivermectin, long used safely in people for parasites, was thrust into the spotlight when many doctors said it worked against Covid. The FDA began a campaign to call it dangerous. Houston doctor Mary Talley Bowden beat the FDA in court and is now part of a growing push to make ivermectin available without a prescription.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

In 2021, the FDA was heavily promoting the upcoming Covid vaccine and discouraging prevention or treatment with medicine like Ivermectin. Despite Ivermectin’s decades-long safety record and 2015 Nobel Prize for combating parasitic diseases, the FDA launched a public campaign against it. That included the FDA’s infamous “You are not a horse. You are not a cow” tweet.

Sharyl: And the FDA was falsely implying this is horse medicine that people are taking, which is not true.

Dr. Mary Talley Bowden: Exactly. They branded it as horse medicine. It was a hit job on Ivermectin. So we sued them, myself and two other doctors. All three of us just got pummeled for our stance on Ivermectin professionally with the boards and the public. And we actually won. The FDA backed down. And they had to remove their misinformation from the website. And they had to remove the tweet. But

Sharyl: Years later.

Bowden: Years. It’s still, I mean, I’m still having a hard time getting my patients. I can’t, if I send a prescription to Walgreens for Ivermectin, there’s a 50, there’s a probably a 75% chance they’re not gonna fill it. And that’s four years later.

Sharyl: What have we learned about Ivermectin in this time period?

Bowden: So there are now 105 studies supporting the efficacy of Ivermectin for Covid. No drug is a hundred percent effective. And what I would do is combine it with other medications depending on, you know, risk factors and, you know, severity of disease. But all in all, it shows that, you know, basically the earlier you start using it, the more efficacious. But even when used late in the game, even, you know, the second week of the illness and Covid is when people really got sick and that was this massive inflammatory response less so from the actual virus, it was the inflammatory response. But even in those late stages, it worked, it helped anywhere from 30 to 40% decrease in intubation and mortality. And it’s so safe.

Sharyl: Are there studies that look at it for preventive?

Sharyl: Yes. So that’s actually, if you go to this meta-analysis of the data, the earlier you use it, even for prevention, prevention is actually the best outcome. But you know, what we’re seeing now, Covid is, is not life threatening. I don’t worry about my patients like I did used to worry about my patients. I don’t worry about anybody now that gets Covid. And yeah, I mean, I don’t discourage people from taking Ivermectin, but I’m not like, yeah, you need to take it for prevention at this point.

Sharyl: What is the status of over the counter efforts in states and are you involved in some sort of effort to try to lobby the states to do this in the absence of action from the federal government?

Bowden: 17 states filed bills this last session to make it over the counter and four have been successful. So Tennessee was the first in 2022. Most recently was Louisiana. But Idaho and Arkansas are also in there. Problem is what I’m hearing from people at least on X, is that even though they are legally allowed to sell it over the counter, you’ve gotta find a willing pharmacist. And that’s problematic sometimes. I encourage other doctors, may open up your mind up a little bit, do a little of your own research and yes, you can do something about a virus early. And you know, even ivermectin can be used for other viruses. It has 20 mechanisms of action. It’s anti-inflammatory. So even if you’re not treating the virus, you can treat inflammation with it and it’s super safe.

Sharyl (on-camera): In June, American Frontline Doctors filed a citizen petition to make Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine over the counter. But there’s been no answer.

Watch video here.