FDA Loses Battle Over Ivermectin for COVID, Takes Down Horse Social Media
Doctors who sued the government to use the medication settled out of court and set a precedent for medical freedom
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) settled the lawsuit brought by three doctors who use ivermectin off-label to treat COVID-19. The FDA agreed to delete social media posts opposing the medication by saying it is for horses.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden of
, the plaintiff in the case, told me: “The damage the FDA inflicted will linger, but future patients are now protected from one meaningful government intrusion into their medical care.”
The court filing is below for paid subscribers. You first read about this case exclusively in my story in June 2022. The doctors filed the suit for interfering with both their authority to prescribe an approved medication and the doctor-patient relationship.
The FDA agreed to delete the Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook posts from August 21, 2021 that read, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” (A screencap of the X/twitter one is above and still online here.)
It will also remove the Twitter post (below) from April 26, 2022 that reads, “Hold your horses, y’all. Ivermectin may be trending, but it still isn’t authorized or approved to treat COVID-19.
Further, the FDA will delete all other social media posts on FDA accounts that link to its website (below) called “Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.”
It will “retire” this website (called a consumer update) originally posted on March 5, 2021 and revised on September 7, 2021. The FDA retains the right to post a revised update.
Bowden said she and her co-plaintiffs Dr. Paul E. Marik and Dr. Robert L. Apter decided to drop the lawsuit they got what they wanted.
“After nearly two years and a resounding rebuke by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the FDA has agreed to remove its misleading social media posts and consumer directives regarding ivermectin and Covid-19,” said Bowden.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to district court and wrote in the decision:
FDA is not a physician. It has authority to inform, announce, and apprise—but not to endorse, denounce, or advise. The Doctors have plausibly alleged that FDA’s Posts fell on the wrong side of the line between telling about and telling to
This is the seventh part of my series about the doctors’ ivermectin lawsuit against the FDA. Catch up and get the original sources here:
COVID Doctors sue FDA over Ivermectin: Lawsuit filed (June 2022)
Doctors fight FDA in court to use ivermectin for COVID patients: Federal district court hearing (Nov. 2022)
FDA Ivermectin Lawsuit Dismissed, COVID Doctors Appeal: Lawsuit dismissed and appealed (Dec. 2022)
FDA Says Doctors Can Prescribe Ivermectin for COVID in Federal Court Lawsuit: 5th Circuit Appeal hearing (Aug. 2023)
FDA Denies Ivermectin Approved for COVID (Aug. 2023)
'FDA is not a Physician' Federal Appeals Court Sides with Doctors on Ivermectin for COVID-19 (Sept. 2023)
