Ivermectin: Breakthrough Coronavirus Cure or Bad Science?

And how we can figure out the difference once and for all.

It’s time we talk about ivermectin.

Since the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, various existing drugs have been touted as near miracle cures for the disease. Often, the discussion of agents like hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, and their ilk veered into the conspiratorial, squelching reasonable scientific discussion. Boosters would accuse detractors of hiding the truth of a safe and effective treatment at the behest of big pharma, or the deep state. Detractors would accuse boosters of bad data analysis and wishful thinking.

Enter Ivermectin, and this meta-analysis of randomized trials by Andrew Hill and his colleagues in Open Forum Infectious Diseases that seem to show that the drug has pretty remarkable efficacy against COVID-19.

But before we dig in, let’s put the mechanistic cards on the table.

Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic agent that has been used to treat scabies, river blindness, and filariasis among others. You may give it to your dog to prevent heartworm. Discovered in…