WASHINGTON—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday agreed as part of a settlement to delete social media posts and various webpage related to ivermectin, a drug the FDA dismissed during the COVID-19 pandemic despite pleas from medical doctors seeking another treatment option for patients. 

Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Dr. David Gortler testified one day before the settlement before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, saying that the FDA was wrong to mock and dismiss ivermectin and other treatments for COVID.  

Gortler, a drug safety expert and former Yale University School of Medicine professor, previously served as a senior advisor to the FDA commissioner for drug safety, FDA regulatory affairs, and FDA science policy. He made the following statements:  

“The FDA mocked pharmacists, physicians, and American patients interested in inexpensive, safe, established alternative medical therapies. Instead of embracing those options, the FDA unambiguously told Americans not to use these treatments, exceeding their congressional authority.  

“Instead of thinking for themselves and analyzing available data sets, hospitals, major medical and pharmacy organizations thoughtlessly backed FDA narratives. Very few pharmacists, physicians, and scientists fought back.   

“As it turns out, those few were right, and the federal government was wrong. We will never know what suffering, morbidity, mortality, and fiscal waste could have been prevented had ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamin D, and other repurposed drugs been evaluated instead of mocked by the agency. 

“It could now take decades to rebuild Americans’ trust in our premier federal medical and healthcare institutions.  About two and a half years after the fact, Americans now know who is responsible; the question is, will anyone be held accountable?” 

As the nation’s largest, most broadly supported conservative research and educational institution, The Heritage Foundation has led the American conservative movement since our founding in 1973. The Heritage Foundation reaches more than 10 million members, advocates, and concerned Americans every day with information on critical issues facing America.   

###