Both sides of the debate over the controversial drug ivermectin agree that it can kill SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But some groups see the drug as a “cure” for his COVID-19, while others classify it as “dangerous.”
Many studies have been published advising against the use of ivermectin for COVID-19, but studies that showed a statistically significant treatment effect were removed and retracted “without explanation.”
That’s according to pulmonary and critical care expert Dr. Pierre Collie, president and co-founder of the Front Line Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC).
Kory and many other physicians who advocate the use of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19, especially in early treatment, are criticized for the number of people whose papers on ivermectin have been retracted by journals that Kory claims are “indebted to Big Pharma.” I was inside.
On September 10, at the ‘Rebirth of Medicine’ conference hosted by the Australian Society of Medical Professionals (AMPS), Corry said, ‘Peer-reviewed articles, which are peer-reviewed by experts in the field, including my own. I’ve seen articles that passed, but were retracted without any explanation.” ) in Melbourne, Australia.
“I have many colleagues who have published papers supporting ivermectin in fairly influential journals, but they have been retracted. is,” he said.
“What I noticed when I identified ivermectin was that [and] Publishing our first comprehensive review article means that as researchers we have been under constant media attack. ”
Kory said he has first-hand knowledge of 88 controlled trials, including all Ministry of Health programs around the world, that have successfully used ivermectin for the initial treatment of COVID-19.
“I know this drug works, and I’ve spread that knowledge. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work and there’s talk of it being an anthelmintic for horses,” Corry previously told Epoch TV’s American. told host Jan Jequierek at the Thought Readers programme.
“They are dismissing the drug based on several trials published in high-impact journals. Complaints are all from doctors and pharmacists. Not a single patient has claimed to have been involved in my entire career.
withdrawn papers
At the conference, Kory identified three examples of manuscripts on ivermectin that were submitted to medical journal publications and then retracted after passing peer review.
One example is the manuscript titled “Ivermectin for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection: A systematic review, meta-analysis” by Elgazzar et al. letter By researchers Bryant et al.
Elgazzar’s manuscript was accused of data fabrication and plagiarism.
A second example is a review article by Zaidi and Dehgani-Mobaraki titled “Mechanism of action of ivermectin against SARS-CoV-2 — a broader review”, which was retracted by the journal’s editor-in-chief. its methodology and conclusions.
“[T]The sources he cited do not appear to indicate that there is clear clinical evidence of ivermectin’s efficacy for treating SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, the Editor-in-Chief is no longer confident of the authenticity of this review article. Notice of withdrawal state.
A third example is Kory’s own research article titled “Review of Emerging Evidence for Ivermectin Effectiveness in Preventing and Treating COVID-19,” which he said was also retracted after passing peer review. rice field.
Cory’s article later fix By removing the original reference to the study by Elgazzar et al.
Corrie also referenced other papers such as “Global Trends in Clinical Studies of Ivermectin in COVID-19,” co-authored by Nobel Laureate Dr. Satoshi Ohmura.
Ohmura won one-fourth of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of ivermectin, a treatment for river blindness and elephantiasis. One of his co-authors on the retracted study is Dr. Morimasa Yagisawa, lead author of the study and a colleague of Omura’s.
“this [paper] He was the world’s expert on ivermectin, and that too was ignored, and his pleas to use ivermectin were ignored.
in an interview with ABS-CBN NewsYagisawa said the World Health Organization (WHO) and other relevant state drug regulators “ignored all such small trials” of ivermectin in COVID-19, citing the supposed “heavy Bias,” said the need for a three-phase study that included a placebo control.
Kory said at the conference: [They’ve been led to think]”The only people who want to use ivermectin are conspiracy theorists and unvaccinated people.” ”
He added: You have to understand that something has really gone wrong with COVID. ”
In a typical peer review process, scholarly articles are anonymously scrutinized by other scholars. This process is intended to ensure that the paper will pass. This includes confirming whether the results of research are valid and meaningful, or whether a particular experiment performs its intended function. Peer-reviewed articles are generally considered more reliable and valid than preprints (papers that have not been peer-reviewed).
A retraction occurs when a published paper is later deemed erroneous. This can damage researchers’ employment, funding, and reputation. Retractions are particularly damaging when initiated by the publisher or editor rather than the authors themselves.
Self-retractions by authors usually occur when authors find mistakes in their research after publication. Such moves are commonly associated with humility and honesty to promote scientific accuracy.
However, when editors and publishers retract papers, they usually decide that their decision is based on the use of incorrect data, plagiarism, false authorship claims, and other common practices related to professional ethics. He said it was due to fraud. All such reasons cited may affect the reputation of the study authors.
Evidence on ivermectin rejected in Australia
Dr. Phillip Altman, a veteran and expert in the field of clinical medical research and drug regulatory issues in Australia, made a detailed submission to Australia’s National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Task Force to promote a successful national campaign for early treatment of COVID. said. -19 Hundreds of millions of people in India, Mexico, Peru and Brazil use ivermectin.
“These so-called experts didn’t even bother to answer,” he said at the Sept. 10 “Reclaiming Medicine” conference.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia’s pharmaceuticals and therapeutics regulator, said in a statement to the Epoch Times that it “welcomes discussions with prospective sponsors about the regulatory process for potential COVID-19 therapeutics. and encourage it,” he said. As of 2022, no applications have been submitted to the TGA supporting the use of ivermectin alone or in combination for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. ”
In Australia doctors are only allowed to prescribe ivermectin About approved terms by TGA. These conditions include scabies and certain parasitic infections. COVID-19 has not received TGA approval for the prescription of ivermectin.
The TGA told the Epoch Times in an email that “more evidence” is needed before ivermectin is considered a “safe and effective treatment option” for COVID-19.
“This is the consensus view of international regulators and several leading medical journals,” said a TGA spokesperson.
In addition, the U.S. government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH (National Institutes of Health)) recommends against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19, except in clinical trials.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now issued a warning against the use of ivermectin for COVID-19, saying that taking large doses of ivermectin can be dangerous. Side effects of high-dose ivermectin include skin rash, nausea, and vomiting.
At the same time, however, agencies have long approved ivermectin to treat certain parasites, head lice, and skin conditions like rosacea. feature It has been on the WHO Essential Medicines List for decades.
Therapeutic effect of ivermectin
At the “Medical Rebirth” conference, Corrie pointed out: C19early.comis a website that summarizes the results of hundreds of studies on various early treatment options for COVID-19.
The website shows the therapeutic effect of each option through forest plots.
A measurement of less than 1 indicates that the treatment option is better than nothing, and ivermectin scored less than 0.4 in 91 different studies, with an average of 62 percent overall improvement and 83 percent prevention. It shows the all important result of percent improvement.
“Looking at the forest plots, these are all trials that show that it is of great benefit. [from ivermectin]And if you average these and summarize all patients, you’ll find a surprisingly large number of clinical outcomes improvements,” Kory said at the conference.
“If the world knows how effective it is, the market will explode in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
“I haven’t seen 88 controlled trials. It’s usually considered proven after 5, 10, 15.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the FDA for comment.
A recent literature review published in Journal of Antibiotics In 2021, a Nature-affiliated journal found that ivermectin may have 20 different actions against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These actions were grouped into comprehensive functions including prevention of viral entry into host cells, prevention of viral replication and inflammation.
The literature review cited an article published in The forefront of microbiologythe authors compared ivermectin, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, and favipiravir for their ability to bind to SARS-CoV-2 target proteins and block their actions.
Ivermectin was shown to have the highest binding affinity for the S subunit of the spike protein, a component involved in viral entry. The authors say the results suggest that ivermectin is most effective at blocking the action of the spike protein.
The drug can also bind to multiple sites on TMPRSS2, a SARS-CoV-2 protein important for viral fusion into cells. In the open configuration, ivermectin can also bind the virus with higher affinity than remdesivir.
Ivermectin also had an effect on viral spread within host cells, the authors note. According to the paper, when a cell is infected with a virus, it sends a message to other nearby cells to inform them of the virus infection, making the cell more resistant to the virus. In COVID-19, this message is compromised by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, whose action is blocked by ivermectin.
Because ivermectin is also an anti-inflammatory agent, it can prevent overactivation of many inflammatory pathways, thereby preventing severe COVID-19 symptoms such as systemic inflammation, ongoing fever and pain, the authors wrote. ing.
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Marina Zhang is based in New York and covers health and US news. Please contact [email protected].
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Henry Jom is an Australia-based reporter covering Australian local news. Please contact [email protected].