Doctors Sue FDA For Blocking Ivermectin Treatments For COVID-19

A group of doctors has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), accusing the agencies of obstructing the use of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. 

The plaintiffs claim that the FDA overstepped its authority by discouraging the use of ivermectin to treat infections from the coronavirus, despite its approval for human use. The lawsuit filed with a Texas federal court aims to set aside any FDA actions that opine on the appropriateness of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment and issue permanent injunctive relief enjoining the FDA from further engaging in such illegal acts.

The plaintiff doctors argue that the FDA cannot ban human drug use once approved and admitted to the market, even if used for “off-label” purposes. In addition, they contend that the FDA cannot advise patients on whether to take a drug for a particular purpose. The doctors claim that they have successfully used ivermectin in treating patients with Covid-19, despite the FDA’s efforts to prohibit its use.

The lawsuit was originally filed in June 2022, but a federal district judge dismissed the claim. The doctors have now appealed their case to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Several groups, including America’s Frontline Doctors and the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), have filed briefs supporting the appeal in the Fifth Circuit case.

Pierre Kory, president and chief medical officer of the FLCCC, characterized the FDA’s actions as part of a coordinated campaign to limit the use of ivermectin. Kory alleged that multiple actions taken by government officials and the media were triggered by the release of data showing that 90,000 prescriptions were being filled for ivermectin during some of the worst months of the pandemic. He described the campaign as a “massive disinformation effort.”

Kory argued that the collusion among the FDA, CDC, and corporate media was not about ivermectin specifically but about the use of repurposed or “off-label” drugs more generally. Kory claimed that prohibiting “off-label” drugs put the interests of pharmaceutical companies over those of patients. 

He asserted that physicians were afraid to prescribe such drugs for fear of losing their licenses, even though the practice is common within the medical community. Kory suggested that the false public intimidation campaign may have resulted in needless Covid deaths or severe infections.

Many Americans have been publicly shamed for taking ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment. Corporate media outlets derided celebrities like podcast host Joe Rogan for using “horse dewormer” despite his rapid recovery from the illness. 

The lawsuit highlights the tension between the medical community and regulatory agencies over using off-label drugs to treat COVID-19. While off-label use is prevalent within the medical community, some public health officials and federal bureaucrats have been skeptical of such treatments. That has been especially concerning the coronavirus, as they have been more prone to support pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer with massive government contracts.