A timeline of ivermectin-related events in the COVID-19 pandemic
Turkia, M., Research Gate (Review) (Preprint)
Turkia, A timeline of ivermectin-related events in the COVID-19 pandemic, , M., Research Gate (Review) (Preprint)
An extensive timeline of ivermectin-related events from April 2020 to March 2021 including studies, news, health authority decisions, biased news coverage, and censorship.
The author concludes that in a broader historical perspective, the timeline depicts rather dysfunctional societies unable to properly communicate and organize themselves, leading to misallocation of resources and decisions that may have conflicted with elementary ethical considerations, with this behavior rationalized by claiming adherence to mental paradigms that may have poorly matched the situation.
Turkia et al., 3 Apr 2021, preprint, 1 author.
Abstract: A timeline of ivermectin-related events in the COVID-19
pandemic
Mika Turkia
M.Sc., mika.turkia@alumni.helsinki.fi, April 3, 2021
Abstract
Background
Ivermectin is a multifaceted medication invented in Japan in 1975 by professor Satoshi Ōmura, for which
he won the 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine. Several billion doses of ivermectin have been administered
since 1981. Currently, ivermectin preparations are available off-patent from many sources, with the
production cost of a single dose estimated to be less than 0.1 US dollars.
Review
The interest in ivermectin with regard to COVID-19 was initiated by an Australian in vitro study
published on April 3, 2020, indicating that a single treatment with ivermectin effectively eliminated the
SARS-CoV-2 virus in cell culture. A few days later, two doctors in Peru begun treating a COVID-19
outbreak in a prison with ivermectin, later also treating the local police.
In the second and third quarter of 2020 the use of ivermectin spread to other South and Central American
countries, Egypt, India and Bangladesh, and later to Lebanon, Southern Africa and Southeastern Europe,
with Slovakia being the first European Union country to adopt it.
Ivermectin treatments raised controversy in many European Union countries and the United States which
ignored ivermectin, referring to a lack of evidence of its efficacy and safety and demanding large-scale
clinical trials. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicine Agency (EMA)
advised against using ivermectin even after results of 26 randomized clinical trials were available in
March 2021. In contrast, many developing countries adopted ivermectin with little evidence.
In the United States, government funding was allocated to the development of a novel pharmaceutical
estimated to possess an efficacy comparable to ivermectin but priced several magnitudes higher. Social
media companies censored ivermectin researchers and research, with for example YouTube censoring
results of a meta-analysis commissioned by the WHO. Traditional media appeared to either ignore
ivermectin or publish negative commentaries only.
Conclusion
There was widespread disagreement on the fundamentals: which methods were appropriate as a basis
for decision making, what counted as evidence, and what was ethical. Societies appeared disorganized,
unable to transcend their current practices, financial structures and mindsets even when facing an obvious
failure.
Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, ivermectin
Please send us corrections, updates, or comments. Vaccines and
treatments are complementary. All practical, effective, and safe means should
be used based on risk/benefit analysis. No treatment, vaccine, or intervention
is 100% available and effective for all current and future variants. We do not
provide medical advice. Before taking any medication, consult a qualified
physician who can provide personalized advice and details of risks and
benefits based on your medical history and situation.
FLCCC and
WCH
provide treatment protocols.
Submit