The Politics of Medicine and the Toll of COVID-19

Ivermectin is a drug that emerged in the 1970s, used mainly for deworming horses and other livestock.

But during the pandemic, it has been falsely lauded in some corners as a kind of miracle cure for the coronavirus.

What is fueling the demand for a drug that the medical establishment has begged people not to take?

Guest: Emma Goldberg, a writer for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• Public health warnings against using the anti-parasitic ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19 appear to have made little progress in stemming its popularity in parts of the United States.
• Veterinarians, ranchers and farmers say they are struggling with the effects of the surging demand for the drug.

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