Some loyal Joe Rogan fans claim ivermectin is a coronavirus “miracle drug” and allows COVID-19 patients to heal fast and with minimal side effects. However good

that might sound, I think it’s important to conduct more research before calling it a miracle drug. 

Rogan, a podcast host, UFC commentator and TV personality, claimed ivermectin, an anti-parasitic and anti-lice drug for humans, was a factor in his recovery from the COVID-19 virus, according to a Sept. 1 Instagram video posted by Rogan. 

After Rogan recommended ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, CNN and other news organizations bashed Rogan for advertising a drug for horses that can kill people who

take it.  

Clearly, those news organizations don’t seem to know the difference between ivermectin for humans and ivermectin

for animals. 

Rogan and his supporters aren’t pushing for people to use the ivermectin for horses that get rid of parasites and worms, they’re pushing for the human-safe ivermectin that could possibly be a treatment for the COVID-19 virus.

In the same Sept. 1 Instagram video, Rogan gave updates on what it was like for him to have COVID-19 and went into detail on the array of drugs he took.

“We immediately threw the kitchen sink at [COVID-19], all kinds of meds: monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, [Zithromax] Z-Pak, everything,” Rogan said in the Instagram video.

CNN host Anderson Cooper claimed Rogan took and advocated for others to take ivermectin or “horse dewormer,” in a Sept. 1 CNN news coverage with headline “Joe Rogan announces he had COVID; Praises horse dewormer ivermectin.”

“One of those drugs he mentioned, ivermectin, is more often used to deworm horses. It’s increased usage has only led to a substantial increase in overdoses after a push from some on the far right,” Cooper said.

Cooper and many others like him can try and spin Rogan’s use of ivermectin however they want, but the commentary is far from

the truth.

In a Sept. 7 episode of his podcast

“Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan said CNN made up these claims.

“Do I have to sue CNN? They’re making shit up,” Rogan said. “They keep saying I’m taking horse dewormer. I literally got it from a doctor. It’s an American company. They won the Nobel Prize in 2015 for use in

human beings.” 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states ivermectin products for animals are different from ivermectin products

for people.

The misinformation about ivermectin caused by media sources not differentiating between the human-safe use and the animal use is misleading and shameful. 

The human-safe ivermectin has been used for decades to treat multiple tropical diseases all across the world and is FDA approved for use, according to the same FDA webpage.

My colleague argues that Rogan encourages his viewers to take ivermectin with little to no knowledge of medicine, but anyone who watches Rogan’s podcast knows he’s always says people shouldn’t consider him an expert and should make decisions for themselves. 

“Don’t listen to me. I’m a fucking idiot. Why are you listening to me?” Rogan said during his podcast episode #1223.

This doesn’t mean people who tested positive for COVID-19 should go out and test their luck with ivermectin, especially because the FDA doesn’t currently approve the use of ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment.

However, claims of ivermectin’s effectiveness for COVID-19 are not unfounded as the drug is approved for COVID-19 treatment for some instances in South Africa, the Philippines and certain South American countries, according to a Sept. 3 Forbes article.

Researchers from South American countries and India show positive results for ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment. 

According to a June 2020 study by Monash University in Australia, ivermectin warrants further investigation for possible benefits in humans because it can inhibit the replication of COVID-19 in cell cultures at higher-than-recommended dosage levels. 

Also, ivermectin could reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms in patients, according to a December 2020 study by the Mugda Medical College and Hospital in Bangladesh.

Until more concrete evidence is

published showing the effectiveness of ivermectin with COVID-19 patients, the medical community needs to keep an open mind about the medicine and conduct more clinical trials of ivermectin treatment.