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Salon
Salon
Science
Keith A. Spencer

We've lost the plot on ivermectin

Infusion tubes are seen at the bedside of an intubated COVID-19 patient in an intensive care room at the Asklepios Clinic Getty Images/Matthias Balk

Imagine if you were in the hospital with a life-threatening yet treatable illness. Your doctor enters the room with four vials: the first three contain drugs that have been tested many times, and shown repeatedly to be very good at reducing death and hospitalization for those with your illness. Studies of these drugs involved thousands of people of different demographics, and the strong correlations shown in these studies were published in peer-reviewed journals.

The fourth vial contains a drug that has little evidence that it works against your illness: yes, there was one study from Bangladesh, but it was very small and had questions around how it was conducted. All other studies showed little or no effect from this drug, at least for treating your illness. And one of the seemingly promising studies was done in a test-tube, which means little in the world of clinical evidence — many substances, including bleach, will kill viruses in test tubes as well, but this doesn't translate well to the inside of the human body.

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