The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have agreed to remove social media posts and web pages cautioning the public not to take the FDA-approved drug Ivermectin to treat COVID-19 symptoms. The move comes as part of lawsuit settlement.
In 2022, three doctors, Drs. Mary Talley Bowden, Paul Marik and Robert Apter filed suit against the FDA claiming that it interfered with the doctor-patient relationship and prevented patients from getting prescribed treatment because pharmacists refused to fill prescriptions and insurance companies would not pay for prescriptions of Ivermectin.1 2
The FDA has agreed to remove and never republish posts such as the one from 2021 that had a picture of a horse and said, “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all Stop it” and, “Why You Should Not Take Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19.”3 In return, the doctors suing the government agency have agreed to dismiss their claim.4
Dr. Marik said:
We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the settlement as it is a victory for every doctor and patient in the United States. The FDA interfered in the practice of medicine with their irresponsible language and posts about ivermectin. We will never know how many lives were affected because patients were denied access to a lifesaving treatment because their doctor was ‘just following the FDA.5
The FDA stated:
FDA has not admitted any violation of law or any wrongdoing, disagrees with the plaintiff’s allegation that the agency exceeded its authority in issuing the statements challenged in the lawsuit, and stands by its authority to communicate with the public regarding the products it regulates.6
Wonder Drug Ivermectin Has Been Used in Humans for a Long Time
Ivermectin has been used in humans for a long time, especially to treat and prevent malaria.7 Doctors have been prescribing this Nobel Prize winning drug to patients for decades.8 Known as a highly effective and safe drug to treat parasitic infections, it has also been used to treat viral and bacterial infections.9 10
A report titled “Ivermectin, ‘Wonder Drug’ from Japan: the human use perspective” available on PubMed concludes that Ivermectin…
has had an immeasurably beneficial impact in improving the lives and welfare of billions of people throughout the world… Ivermectin has continually proved to be astonishingly safe for human use. Indeed, it is such a safe drug, with minimal side effects.11
Lawsuit Accuses FDA of Overstepping Its Authority
The lawsuit, which alleged that the FDA overstepped its authority and acted as a medical doctor rather than a regulating authority when it promoted a ban on Ivermectin, was originally tossed out by federal judge Jeffrey Brown in 2022. Judge Brown sided with the government’s claim of sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity prevents the government from being sued without its consent. The purpose behind the legal doctrine of sovereign immunity is to protect the government from being forced to change policies if someone disagree with them and brings legal action.12 13 14
At the time, Plaintiff’s lawyer explained:
If the government is going to label ivermectin a horse medicine or a horse dewormer and promulgate the idea that it is only for animals, then the natural correlation is that doctors who prescribe it are horse doctors or quack doctors, which has played out.15
Appellate Court Finds the FDA Overreached
The Plaintiffs appealed Judge Brown’s decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans which overturned the lower court decision finding that the FDA committed government overreach and allowed the doctors to proceed with their lawsuit.16
The Appellate Court found:
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. As such, the doctors can use the APA to assert their ultra vires claims against the agencies and the officials.17
The Appellate Court remanded the case back to Judge Brown,18 who decided that only one of the Plaintiffs, Dr. Bowden who worked as an ear, nose and throat doctor at Houston Methodist hospital,19 had standing to sue the FDA and the other two Plaintiffs did not. The parties settled the matter outside of court agreeing that the matter would be dismissed with prejudice meaning that neither party could bring the same action again.
Dr. Bowden cautioned:
The damage the FDA inflicted will linger, but future patients are now protected from one meaningful government intrusion into their medical care.20
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Click here to view References:2 Bond P. FDA Settles Lawsuit over Ivermectin Social Media Posts. Newsweek Mar. 22, 2024.
3 Hanson H. Houston Doctor’s Lawsuit Forces FDA to Remove COVID-19-Related Ivermectin Posts. The Texan Mar. 22, 2024.
4 Stieber Z. FDA Settles Ivermectin Case, Agrees to Remove Controversial ‘Stop It’ Post. The Epoch Times. Mar. 22, 2024.
5 Ibid.
6 Bond P. FDA Settles Lawsuit over Ivermectin Social Media Posts. Newsweek Mar. 22, 2024.
7 Ibid.
8 Hendler C, Baker A. A. Federal Court Sides With Doctors on Ivermectin Lawsuit Charging FDA Overreach. The Vaccine Reaction Sept. 18, 2023.
9 Heidary F, Gharebaghi R. Ivermectin: A systematic review from antiviral effects to COVID-19 complementary regimen. The Journal of Antibiotics 2020; 73: 593-602.
10 Li N, Zhao L, Zhan X. Quantiative proteomics reveals and broad-spectrum antiviral property of ivermectoin, benefiting for COVID-19 treatment. J Cell Physiol 2021; 236*4): 2959-2975.
11 Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci. Feb. 10, 2011; 87(2): 13–28.
12 Stieber Z. Judge Rules on Lawsuit Against FDA Over Ivermectin. The Epoch Times Dec. 6, 2022.
13 Hendler C, Baker A. Federal Court Sides With Doctors on Ivermectin Lawsuit Charging FDA Overreach. The Vaccine Reaction Sept. 18, 2023.
14 What Is Sovereign Immunity? Definition and Examples. ThoughtCo.
15 Stieber Z. Judge Rules on Lawsuit Against FDA Over Ivermectin. The Epoch Times Dec. 6, 2022.
16 Hendler C, Baker A. Federal Court Sides With Doctors on Ivermectin Lawsuit Charging FDA Overreach. The Vaccine Reaction Sept. 18, 2023.
17 Lysiak M. ‘FDA Is Not a Physician’: Appeals Court Sides With Doctors on Ivermectin for COVID-19. The Epoch Times Sept. 2, 2023.
18 Stieber Z. Federal Court Rules Against FDA Over Anti-Ivermectin Posts. The Epoch Times Sept. 9, 2023.
19 Lenthang M. Suspended Texas doctor who promoted ivermectin as Covid treatment resigns from hospital. NBC News Nov. 17, 2021.
20 Hanson H. Houston Doctor’s Lawsuit Forces FDA to Remove COVID-19-Related Ivermectin Posts. The Texan Mar. 22, 2024.
4 Responses
Anyone whom communicates in written form and uses the word ‘Y’all’ in an attempted serious manner… One would have to be a real idiot to take that person seriously. The state of the fake news media industrial complex today. As one inept judge hands the case off to another, the lawyers charge exorbitant fees nobody except the government and their fascist corporate partners can afford, and the case was dropped without any actual penalty or jail time for malpractice or interference which caused grave harm to an untold millions if not billions of people, was simply dismissed. That’s convenient. Who was the individual whom wrote that post? The anonymous bureaucrat whom shall not be named, and faces no consequences for being wrong or causing harm, and probably got a raise instead. See how this works yet? These people are not experts. This is not science.
These people are deliberately killing and disabling Americans at will: first with the Bioweapon Trojan Horse Frankenshots, and then with censoring and prohibiting safe and effective natural or alternate solutions.
All doctors and scientists of any skill whatsoever knows that Vit D is critical to immune function- how come they did not recommend simple, safe, and cost effective pre-treatment?
The best case scenario is greed gone mad; the more likely scenario- they are DELIBERATELY trying to KILL and DISABLE as many Americans and people worldwide as possible- and they keep getting away with breaking every law, and every US Constitution law on the record. 9 times out of 10 there is no consequence to them. The FDA and it’s officials are guilty of WAR CRIMES under the Geneva Convention Nuremburg Code for COERCING MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS on people. Not only the FDA, but the CDC, NIH, Biden, and all those who were pushing OSHA to force every single working American to be jabbed. They would have got their way on this if the court had not stopped them.
They will not stop… they are pure evil.
These people are deliberately killing and disabling Americans at will: first with the Bioweapon Trojan Horse Frankenshots, and then with censoring and prohibiting safe and effective natural or alternate solutions. All doctors and scientists of any skill whatsoever know that Vit D is critical to immune function- how come they did not recommend simple, safe, and cost effective pre-treatment? The best case scenario is greed gone mad; the more likely scenario- they are DELIBERATELY trying to KILL and DISABLE as many Americans and people worldwide as possible- and they keep getting away with breaking every law, and every US Constitution law on the record. 9 times out of 10 there is no consequence to them. The FDA and it’s officials are guilty of WAR CRIMES under the Geneva Convention Nuremburg Code for COERCING MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS on people. Not only the FDA, but the CDC, NIH, Biden, and all those who were pushing OSHA to force every single working American to be jabbed. They would have got their way on this if the court had not stopped them. They will not stop… they are pure evil.
Ok. The FDA did an about face to “settle” the lawsuit. That means they did what they had to do, to make the lawsuit go away. Why? Because the FDA muckymucks didn’t like being exposed for the liars and murderers they are. People died because of the FDA, and it wasn’t by mistake. It was a cold blooded plan to cause the deaths of innocent people by blocking access to a drug(ivermectin) that had been used on people for decades without incident. That means the FDA should be defunded and their muckymucks tried, convicted, and locked up. Otherwise they will do the same thing again and again, and even more innocent people will die. Enough already!